Ophira Eisenberg will be featured at the The Boston Comedy Festival’s Closing Gala on September 15 at the Somerville Theatre.

Somerville will be the funniest place on earth this September 11- 15 as the Boston Comedy Festival Comedy Contest launches its world famous comedy competition at the Somerville Theatre.

Combining iconic comedians with icons-in-the-making, the 19th Annual Boston Comedy Festival Gala will showcase some of the best-established and new comedic talents. Forty-eight, bright-eyed comics from all over the country compete for $10,000 dollars in prize money.

When it’s over, there will be one comic standing with a nice little bag of money and a ton of bragging rights. These shows will be hosted and will feature an amazing line up of talent as well.

The event will be hosted by Boston Comedy headliner Jim McCue who has been on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing and Gotham Live.

The Comedian of the Year Award will be presented to Boston’s own Gary Gulman and comedic actress Jennifer Coolidge will be presented with the lifetime achievement award.

Jennifer Coolidge is a versatile character actress and experimental comedienne, best known for playing Stifler’s mom in American Pie. She recreated the character in the sequel American Pie 2. Then, she reprised her role as “Paulette” opposite Reese Witherspoon in the Legally Blonde franchise.

Although she lost the part of “Lynette Scavo” on Desperate Housewives to Felicity Huffman, Coolidge graced several TV comedies as well, with major guest appearances on Frasier and Sex and the City. Then, she landed a recurring role in the NBC sitcom Joey as “Bobbie Morgenstern,” Joey’s agent, appearing in 37 episodes over two seasons.

Originally from Boston, Gary Gulman has been a scholarship college football player, an accountant, and a high school teacher. Now he is one of the most popular touring comics and one of only a handful of comedians to perform on every single late-night talk show. Gary marked his 20-year anniversary in stand-up with the It’s About Time Tour, selling out theaters throughout the country. It’s no wonder the New York Times wrote, “Gary is finally being recognized as one of the country’s strongest comedians.”

The Boston Comedy Festival is proud of its closing Gala featuring Ophira Eisenberg on Saturday, September 15 at 10:00 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre. Eisenberg is a comedian, writer, and host of NPR’s Ask Me Another. She has appeared on HBO’s Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, The Today Show, The Nightly Show, Comedy Central, and VH-1. Selected as one of New York Magazine’s Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny, and featured in the New York Times as a skilled comedian and storyteller with a “bleakly stylish” sense of humor, Ophira’s debut memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, was optioned for a feature film with Zucker Productions. She is also a regular host and teller with The Moth, her stories are part of their award-winning radio show, podcast, and NYT best-selling book. Her comedy special Inside Joke was released by New Wave Entertainment and is available on Amazon and iTunes.

There are a variety of amazing shows all over Somerville Sept 11 – 15 find the right one to tickle your funny bone at BostonComedyFestival.com.