The New York Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival started in 2004. The festival is produced in association with Comedy Central, the Huffington Post, and Caroline's comedy club located at Time's Square in New York City. The New York Comedy Festival is generally held in November, and features some of the biggest names in comedy. The 2015 festival had over 200 comedians in 60 shows and even helped raise money at some of the shows for various good causes. Some of the well known comedians who have performed at the NY Comedy Festival include Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, Andy Samberg, Mike Birbiglia, Tracy Morgan, Artie Lange, Mike Epps, and Dane Cook.
Since its inception, the festival has given the annual Andy Kaufman Award "to the individual who most closely reflects the originality, humor and courage of the late comedian." The winners of the award have been:
The New York Comedy Festival has also paired up with The People's Choice Awards for "The Opening Act" Competition, which selects one amateur stand up comedian to open for one of the festivals well known headlining acts.