Two-day fest will benefit the Dempsey Center 

AUBURN — A two-day Comedy Fest for a worthy cause is coming to Auburn Fireside Inn Sept. 27-28.

George Hamm, popular Maine comic for many years, headlines the inaugural LAME Comedy Fest which will benefit The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Lewiston. Hamm and a dozen other top stand-up comedians from throughout New England will appear.

Lewiston comedian Mark Turcotte, founder of the Comedy Fix fundraising series at Fireside Inn, created the event as a way to showcase New England’s thriving comedy scene while raising money for The Dempsey Center.

Turcotte, who is communications specialist for The Dempsey Center, said, “I couldn’t be more excited about bringing this event to the Lewiston-Auburn area. The community has shown a great deal of support for the Comedy Fix shows and LAME will be like Comedy Fix on steroids with more comedians, more laughs and more giveaways.”

Comedy has been Turcotte’s passion for many years. “I’ve been doing comedy for about a year,” he said, “but I’ve been wanting to since I was 12.”

Turcotte said he got the idea for a two-day fest, after seeing the support for the Comedy Fix shows which began in 2012.

The Comedy Fix sold out in 2012, and “inspired me to do something bigger,” Turcotte said. He contacted many comedians he has known through the years and he was delighted to find solid support from them and a willingness to come to Maine for shows to benefit the Dempsey Center.

The Dempsey Center is located in Lewiston and was founded by actor and Maine native Patrick Dempsey in response to his mother’s multiple bouts with ovarian cancer. The Center opened in 2008 and provides free support, education and integrative medicine services to anyone impacted by cancer.

The lineup for the Friday evening show is George Hamm, Brian Brinegar, Phoebe Angle, Josh Day, Johnny Ater, Mark Reilly, Mark Turcotte.

Saturday’s lineup is Nick Lavallee, Ryan Waning,Troy Pennell, Kyron Hobdy, Matt Kona, Ian Stuart, Brett Groh and Will Green.

Turcotte will be hosting the event both days, as well as performing on the Friday program.

George Hamm’s comedy career spans several decades. He is well known throughout Maine, and he has performed and the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and at the Improv in Los Angeles.

Lavallee also has appeared at those California venues, as well as in Nevada and Illinois, and at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Waning has been seen in Comix at Foxwood, Orpheum Theater in Massachusetts and at Comedy Connection.

Angle, the only female among the Comedy Fest performers, has appeared at The Comedy Studio.

Hobdy has appeared from Maine to California, and Brinegar has been seen on Comedy Time Network.

Kona hails from Boston, and the other comedians are regulars on the Portland comedy scene and elsewhere throughout New England.

There will be hundreds of dollars in door prizes at the LAME Comedy Fest, as well as a weekend getaway package from the Fireside Inn which includes a two-night stay in a deluxe fireplace room, dinner and movie tickets.

Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.lamecomedyfest.com. Single nights are $10 and weekend passes are $18. Seating is general admission and doors open at 7 p.m. The 8 p.m. shows are for ages 21 and older.

The Fireside Inn is at 1777 Washington St. For more information, call 207-513-0742 or email mark@comedyfixlive.com.

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