High Plains Comedy Festival announces first wave of comics joining headliner David Cross

Emily Heller, James Adomian and a whole slew of ex-Denverites are on the list.
3 min. read
A crowd at High Plains Comedy Festival. (Courtesy of HPCF)

High Plains Comedy Festival released a first look at its lineup for 2018, featuring national acts, local favorites and new up-and-comers.

The 46 comedians will join previously announced headliner, David Cross, and Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas & June Diane Raphael — who will do a special presentation of the 'How Did This Get Made?podcast — at the sixth annual Denver comedy fest.

Highlights, per a press release, include "James Adomian, a celebrated standup and impressionist who has gained recent acclaim for his uncanny Bernie Sanders impersonation; Emily Heller, a comedian and writer you might recognize from a myriad of TV shows including 'Inside Amy Schumer' and the 2018 Bill Hader series 'Barry;' and Jackie Kashian, who hosts 'The Dork Forestpodcast and who in the past year has appeared on Conan, opened for Brian Regan at Carnegie Hall, and performed on HBO’s '2 Dope Queens.'"

Among the local talent are Adam Cayton-Holland (founder and executive director of the festival) and Andrew Orvedahl, both of Grawlix and "Those Who Can’t." And a big list of ex-Denverites includes Troy Walker, Chris Charpentier, Jordan Doll, Mara Wiles, Matt Monroe, Kristin Rand, Stephen Agyei, Kevin O’Brien and Brent Gill.

High Plains Comedy Festival will take place Aug. 23-25 at the Paramount Theater and in venues along South Broadway.

Here's the full lineup announced today:

-   James Adomian
-   Emily Heller
-   Jackie Kashian
-   Baron Vaughn
-   Adam Cayton-Holland
-   Jonah Ray
-   Solomon Georgio
-   Jake Weisman
-   Eliza Skinner
-   Ian Karmel
-   Shane Torres
-   Andrew Orvedahl
-   Byron Bowers
-   Chris Fairbanks
-   Amy Miller
-   David Gborie
-   Emma Arnold
-   Jak Knight
-   Nato Green
-   Clare O’Kane
-   Sean Jordan
-    Shalewa Sharpe
-    James Fritz
-   Irene Tu
-   Eric Dadourian
-   Dan Gill
-   Dante Powell
-   Steph Tolev
-   Troy Walker
-   Samantha Ruddy
-   Chris Charpentier
-   Caitlin Weierhauser
-   Jordan Doll
-   Mara Wiles
-   Candice Thompson
-   Andrew Michael
-   Vanessa Gonzalez
-   Johan Miranda
-   Matt Monroe
-   Kristin Rand
-   Stephen Agyei
-   Genevieve Rice
-   Wes Van Horn
-   Brittany Carney
-   Kevin O’Brien
-   Brent Gill

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