'Biggest comedy festival that's ever come to Rhode Island' set for March

What do Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari, Leslie Jones, and Melissa Villaseñor have in common? 

Sure, sure — they’re all comics, wise guy … But the real answer: They’re all A-list comics headed Providence in March to take part in what looks to be the biggest comedy fest lil’ Rhody has ever seen.

The Veterans Memorial Auditorium Providence, aka The VETS,  announced Thursday the Lil Rhody Laugh Riot, a four-day comedy festival running March 27- March 30. According to event billing, the fest will be anchored at The Vets and “spill over into satellite venues” around Providence, including the larger Providence Performing Arts Center, and the RI Comedy Connection.

More names will be announced soon, but as of Dec. 12, the line-up includes:

• Kevin Hart: March 27 at 7:30 p.m., Providence Performing Arts Center
• Michael Blaustein: March 28 at 7 p.m., The VETS 
• Leslie Jones: March 29 at 4 p.m., The VETS 
• Aziz Ansari: March 29 at 7 p.m., Providence Performing Arts Center
• Hannah Berner:  March 30 at 7 p.m., The VETS
• Chris Distefano:  March 30 at 9:45 p.m., The VETS

Also on the docket: SNL alum Melissa Villaseñor, Tone Bell, Sophie Buddle, Alec Flynn, Andy Woodhull, and “The Daily Show” correspondent and podcaster Josh Johnson, named “the funniest guy on the internet” by WIRED.

Tickets are on sale for the comedy fest that’s already made Variety headlines — and a Ken Burns account tweet.

“This is absolutely the biggest comedy festival that’s ever come to Rhode Island. We’re super excited,” VETS Marketing Director Michael Gravison said.

… But that’s not all. 

Dovetailing with PVD’s inaugural comedy fest is the city’s inaugural PVD food and wine fest: the Providence Culinary Collective, presented by the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, aims to be a “first-of-its-kind food and wine festival” that will take over the city that same weekend.

Talk about bread and circus. You might want to book a hotel room now — you can get discounted rates through the comedy fest site.

Any southern New Englander knows Providence is a foodie destination. (Maybe Kevin Hart will hit up The District again.) Events will include the Rhode Island Wine Experience, “an upscale, educational” pairing event; Taste Community Made, featuring Hope & Main makers; Chef’s Choice classes at Johnson & Wales University; specialty dinners, food trucks and more, according to event billing.

 “This comedy festival, paired with the debut of the Providence Culinary Collective, will showcase the best of what our city has to offer,” said Mayor of Providence Brett P. Smiley in a statement. 

Below, here’s what Marketing Director Michael Gravison had to say about the festival.

Boston.com: So how did this comedy fest come together?

Michael Gravison: It was the brainchild of our programming office and the general management here at the VETS. Basically coming out of COVID we discovered that comedy was really popular, more so than ever before. People wanted to come together. People really wanted to laugh. They were looking for those shared experiences. The comedy scene exploded in Providence. After years of planning, we decided to create a festival that would bring as many people as possible to downtown Providence over the course of one weekend.

The comics span generations, too.

That’s what we’re going for. The whole point  is to reach a number of people, multi-generational, to really bring everybody together.

At the same time, there’s a huge wine and food fest going on.

That was serendipitous. We partner very closely with the Providence, Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau. When we told them this was happening, they said, “Oh, we’re doing this culinary festival the same weekend.” We thought it was a great idea to partner. We’re taking care of the entertainment, they’re taking care of the food. And really just adds to that total package.

You’ve got big headliners. What can you tell us about some of the others people may not know immediately?

Hannah Berner is a younger comedian, really big online, she’s had some specials. Michael Blaustein has a really popular podcast, he’s a comic touring with his podcast now. Chris Distefano is another big name in the comedy world; he was at the VETS last season.

Leslie Jones and Kevin Hart have never done the VETS or PPAC before. Aziz played the VETS twice, you said.

He sold out both times he played the Vets in 2016 and 2018. So he’s going to be performat PPAC, which is a larger venue.

What are you hoping this fest does?

We want to turn this into an annual event. We want to bring as many people as we can —  from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey. We have hotel partners, where you can book hotel rooms at a festival rate so that you can stay for the weekend. You know, we’re really trying to turn this into an annual event. We’re hoping the last weekend of March, Providence becomes the place to go. 

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.