The Wheeler Opera House is tickled to be presenting the 2023 Aspen Laugh Festival this season. After a two-year hiatus due to, well, life not being a barrel of laughs, we’re bringing funny back to the Wheeler. With five days of the best and brightest comics on the mainstage, you can enjoy side-splitting, belly aching laughs from your seat in our beautiful, historic opera house.
The 2023 festival will take place Tuesday February 21st - Saturday February 25th 2023.
ZAINAB JOHNSON
Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Zainab Johnson is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer from Harlem, NY, who was recently hailed by Variety as being a “Top 10 Comic To Watch.” Zainab’s comedy is based on her unique point-of-view, which was shaped growing up as one of thirteen siblings in a Muslim family. Zainab can currently be seen playing the role of Aleesha on the Greg Daniels Amazon series UPLOAD and hosting Netflix’s 100 Humans, a social experiment where 100 individuals take part in interactive experiments exploring sex, happiness, torture and all the other aspects of being human. Zainab is a regular at the Comedy Cellar in NY as well as the Comedy Store and Improv in LA. She's made appearances on Late Night with Seth Meyers, HBO's All Def Comedy, MTV's Acting Out, and NBC's Last Comic Standing. She had a breakout performance at The Melbourne Comedy Festival and regularly returns to the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.
THE SECOND CITY - SWIPES RIGHT: AN INCOMPLETE GUIDE TO THE
ULTIMATE DATE NIGHT
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 | 7:30 PM
It’s love at first laugh with The Second City! Bring your partner, lover, significant other, spouse, friend with benefits, friend with EXTRA benefits, platonic BFF, or your spectacularly single self to The Second City Swipes Right: An Incomplete Guide to The Ultimate Date Night, the brand-new experience you've been aching for. Spend a naughty 90 minutes with our caliente cast of comedians as they (consensually) annihilate everything that turns us on—and off—about love, dating, relationships, and everything else in-between the sheets!
PETE LEE
Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 7:30 PM
The first standup comedian to get a standing ovation on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, after Jimmy attended one of Pete’s live shows in NYC and immediately invited him on the show. Pete’s joyful humor comes from his Midwestern roots. Raised in Janesville, WI, by divorced parents and a 19-inch television, he was destined to pursue a career in entertainment. In 2008 Pete shot his own Comedy Central half hour special, which earned him a cult following at comedy clubs, and the opportunity to perform over the next ten years at 500 colleges across the country. Currently, Pete is a cast member of TruTV’s Greatest Ever and he hosts his own segment on Nickelodeon’s Nick Toons, in coordination with the NFL, called NFL Rush. He’s also a regular on TruTV’s Comedy Knockout and Comedy Central’s Roast Battle. And he starred in a documentary titled I Need You to Kill that is now available on iTunes and Amazon. If you haven’t heard of Pete Lee yet, prepare to tell other people.
Double the Laughs with IVAN DECKER and RYAN HAMILTON
Friday, February 24, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Originally from Vancouver, now based in Los Angeles, Ivan Decker is a writer, standup comic and actor, known for his sharp, polished, and multi-layered observational comedy. With numerous television performances filmed at the Just for Laughs Montreal festival, the Winnipeg and Halifax Comedy festivals for CBC Television, Ivan can be heard across North America on Sirius XM radio. He can also be seen and heard on the popular CBC radio program The Debaters. Most recently, Ivan was named a “Comic To Watch” by TBS at the New York Comedy Festival, and subsequently made his American television debut on Conan. Ivan’s debut comedy album "I Wanted to be a Dinosaur" was the recipient of the 2018 JUNO award for “Comedy Album of the Year” which can be heard on all major streaming platforms, including iTunes. His half hour comedy special for Netflix was filmed at the 2018 Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.
Ryan Hamilton’s one-hour Netflix stand-up special, Happy Face, has been reviewed as “the special you can’t watch enough times.” This has been followed by a wealth of television appearances and a nonstop headlining tour. Armed with the unique perspective of growing up in rural Idaho to become a favorite in the New York stand-up comedy scene, he’s one-of-a-kind. He’s been named one of Rolling Stone’s “Five Comics to Watch;” and his recent appearances include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Conan, as well as opening spots for Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan.
PREACHER LAWSON
Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 7:30 PM
Preacher Lawson is a standup comedian, actor, singer, human, professional black guy. Preacher was born in Portland, Oregon, and spent most of his adolescence in Memphis, Tennessee. He moved 20 times before the age of ten. If you asked him what city he’s from he’d say Orlando, Florida, because that’s where he grew as a comedian. Lawson is best known for his appearance on season 12 of NBC’s hit series, America’s Got Talent (2017) where he made it to the final round. Based off his stellar performance in season 12, Lawson was invited to compete on America's Got Talent: The Champions (2019) and Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions (2019) where he advanced to the finale after receiving the most fan votes. Lawson shot his first standup special, Get To Know Me, which premiered on BET+ in 2019.
