Next month's Traverse City Winter Comedy Arts Festival will include comedian Bill Maher, Sinbad and Judd Apatow.
The Feb. 13-15 event will kick off with a new version of Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore's one-man show, Julie Hinds of the Detroit Free Press writes.
"It will be funny. It will be political. And I will help birth a live cow right onstage with the help of the cast of 'Chicago Fire' and CNN's Wolf Blitzer,'' he jokes in a statement.
The festival was founded by Moore and Jeff Garlin, who was Larry David's manager in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He also is the dad on ABC's "The Goldbergs."
On the festival site, Moore writes:
As you may have heard, Bill Maher is coming to Traverse City! Each weekend, after doing his “Real Time with Bill Maher” Friday night show on HBO, he travels the country playing huge halls and arenas.
But on Valentine’s Day, as a personal favor to me, he’s offering his time, free of charge, to do a rare show in a 600-seat venue, the City Opera House, as a benefit to the ComFest’s Free on Front and the people of northern Michigan.
In addition to his stand-up, he also asked that I do something he and I have never done before — comedy, together, Bill & Me, on stage, for an uncensored, no-holds-barred duet of ideas, laughs, and things we hope no one will repeat outside the Opera House!
He adds:
Judd Apatow is the most successful writer-producer-director in American comedy today. He has launched a new Hollywood comedy generation, discovering Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Melissa McCarthy.
He’s brought us blockbuster after blockbuster: “Knocked Up,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Anchorman,” “Bridesmaids,” “Step Brothers,” “Superbad,” and “Heavy Weights.” After quietly making underground appearances recently in New York and Los Angeles, he’s decided to come to Traverse City for one of his first public appearances outside of those two cities.
This is going to be a huge event and will be the subject of national media coverage — so get your tickets to see Judd Apatow ASAP.
