The 50+ Comedy Tour will return to the Gold Coast Arts Center (GCAC) for its third performance on Saturday, Oct. 14, with another hilarious lineup of top comedians who have one thing in common—they’re all older than age 50.
“We call it ‘The Comedy Show for Mature Audiences,’ ‘The Comedy Show 50 Years in the Making’ and ‘The 50+ Comedy Tour…Making America Laugh again,’” said comedian Paul Anthony, host and executive producer of the 50+ Comedy Tour and creator of the Long Island Comedy Festival, who can be found performing his observational humor about everyday life at comedy clubs in New York City and on Long Island.
“We started the 50+ Comedy Tour to combat the perception that once you reach 50, you are no longer in your prime. The comedians we feature on the tour are all incredibly talented and, in my opinion, are in their prime,” said Anthony. “Plus, there’s a growing population of Baby Boomers who want to enjoy an affordable evening of live stand-up comedy—with comedians that they can relate to. The comics we feature are not ‘blue,’ a show business term that refers to very dirty, off-color material. While the comedians speak about adult topics in their acts, they don’t use a lot of profanity.”
GCAC’s intimate black box theater is the perfect venue for stand-up comedy and Saturday night’s show will feature a new lineup of seasoned comics, including Les Bayer, Peter Bales and Steve Lazarus.
Bayer, a resident of East Meadow, is the winner of the 2016 AARP Long Island’s Search for the Next 50+ Comedy Star.
Northport resident Bales, a faculty member at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York, is a professor of stand-up comedy. The student of Chicago’s famous Second City improv troupe has performed at countless comedy clubs, corporate functions and colleges across the country and has appeared on various television networks, including Comedy Central, Showtime, FOX, A&E and MTV.
Longtime Yankee Stadium beer man turned comedian Lazarus, who has opened for noted comedians such as Ray Romano, Kevin James and Lewis Black, offers a unique perspective on what life is like both in and out of the stands. In fact, the Bronx native has a book, The Pope and Me at Yankee Stadium: My Life as the Beer Man & Stand-Up Comic. Lazarus has been featured on Fox 5 TV and Good Day New York and can be found performing across the country from Atlantic City to Las Vegas.
“The response has been tremendous. Attendance at all of our performances has been very strong,” said Anthony. “This is now our second annual tour and we are planning to expand throughout the northeast beginning in 2018, which will be very exciting.”
The show will begin at 8:30 p.m., with doors opening at 8 p.m. at 113 Middle Neck Rd. General admission tickets cost $20 if purchased in advance at 516-829-2570 or www.goldcoastarts.org. Tickets cost $30 at the door. Free parking will be available in the Maple Drive municipal lot.
“Audiences love this show because the humor is performed by, and aimed at, Baby Boomers,” said Lauren Wagner, director of Marketing and Development at the GCAC. “We sell out every year, and people leave the event literally exhausted from laughing, but with big smiles on their faces.”
For more information, visit www.50pluscomedy.com.
