Yuk it Up

Moontower Comedy Festival unleashes first round of headliners for 2020

Roy Wood, Jr. takes a break from The Daily Show to headline Moontower 2020.

Photo courtesy of Moontower Comedy Festival

Moontower Comedy Festival is returning to downtown Austin with big-name headliners, up-and-coming comedians, special shows, and podcast tapings. On November 15, the fest rolled out the first round of performers for Moontower 2020, which takes place at venues across Austin beginning April 22 through April 25.

Festival headliners include Nikki Glaser; Dan Soder; Randy Feltface; Andrew Schulz; and Roy Wood, Jr., who fans may recognize as a senior correspondent from The Daily Show. Per tradition, headliners take the stage at the Paramount and State theaters on Congress Avenue throughout the weekend.

Also headlining is Middleditch & Schwartz, aka comedy duo Thomas Middleditch (HBO’s Silicon Valley) and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation). Together, they will perform a completely improvised two-man show.

In total, the festival revealed 29 performers and acts for 2020:

Adrienne Iapalucci (The Degenerates, Vadge)
Amy Miller (Doug Loves Movies)
Anna Drezen (Late Late Show with James Corden, SNL writer)
Anthony DeVito (Late Show with Stephen Colbert)
Beth Stelling (Crashing, 2 Dope Queens)
Big Jay Oakerson (Hustlers, Legion of Skanks)
Brian Simpson (Lights Out with David Spade)
Catherine Cohen (Late Night with Seth Meyers, High Maintenance, Broad City)
Cipha Sounds (host of Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks)
Emmy Blotnick (Conan, Late Show with Stephen Colbert)
Fahim Anwar (Variety’s “Comics to Watch”)
Goddamn Comedy Jam
Hannah Einbinder (Just for Laughs’ New Faces, coming soon to Conan)
Jessica Kirson (Relatively Sane podcast, The View)
Joe List (The Standups, Conan, cohost of Tuesdays with Stories podcast)
Josh Adam Meyers (The 500 podcast)
Kyle Dunnigan (Inside Amy Schumer, Reno 911)
Marina Franklin (Single Black Female, Conan, 2 Dope Queens)
Mark Normand (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Conan, cohost of Tuesdays with Stories podcast)
Nore Davis (Comedy Central Presents, Conan)
Pete Lee (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)
The Sklar Brothers (Glow, Those Who Can’t)

In addition to the Paramount and State, performers will pop up in unexpected venues across downtown, as well as Cap City Comedy Club on Research Boulevard.

Moontower, now in its ninth year, is already becoming one of North America's premier comedy festivals, drawing comparisons to Montreal's Just for Laughs and the New York Comedy Festival, among others. Over the next six months, fans can expect additional lineup drops from organizers — including additional big-name headliners.

Moontower Comedy Festival badges are on sale now and range in price from the $1,000 Front-Row Star Badge to the $99 Satellite Badge. For additional badge options and more information, head here.

festivals comedy

Party Is Over

Half of Austin's Party City locations close in national 'winddown'

Party City

A chain of stores where the party is always going on is closing down: Party City will close its stores and has initiated layoffs, effective immediately. According to CNN, CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees that Party City had to “commence a winddown process immediately,” and that Friday, December 20, would be their last day of work for the company.

However, the actual store locations will be open until February 28, and some of Austin's are staying open indefinitely — but with some significant changes. As KVUE and KXAN separately report, two Austin locations at Balcones Woods and Sunset Valley Village are locally owned, so they won't be closing.

As San Antonio's KENS5 explains regarding the area's four local stores, as independent franchises they were not fully controlled by the Party City corporation, even though they bear its name. MySA got insight from San Antonio store owner Don Lasseter, who will transition his locations into independent party stores rather than Party City franchises.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Party City is largest party goods retailer in the U.S. — the go-to destination for every type of celebration, with more than 700 company-owned and franchise store locations across North America selling home decor, candles, balloons, wrapping paper, tableware, bulk candy, baking supplies, and more.

A typical Party City store ranges in size from 10,000 to 12,000 square feet and carries approximately 30,000 items. Halloween accounts for as much as one-quarter of yearly sales, but they celebrate all seasonal holidays, from New Year's Eve to the Fourth of July to Father's Day to Super Bowl Sunday, and offer a wide array of merchandise for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, wedding and bridal showers, and baby showers.

Party and costume merchandise has become more competitive in recent years, with companies like the budget-focused Spirit Halloween expanding beyond its Halloween pop-ups into “Spirit Christmas” stores, as well as competition from Amazon and other online retailers.

In 2023, the chain filed for bankruptcy, then emerged with a plan that included transitioning into a privately held company and canceling nearly $1 billion in debt. At that time, there were approximately 800 U.S. stores.

There are 64 stores in Texas, with four in the Austin area, as follows:

Capital Plaza — closing
Southpark Meadows — closing
Balcones Woods — independent
Sunset Valley Village — independent

holidays closings

Yuk it Up

Moontower Comedy Festival unleashes first round of headliners for 2020

Party Is Over

Half of Austin's Party City locations close in national 'winddown'

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