Photograph courtesy Holy Cannoli Improv Comedy
A local independent improv team, Holy Cannoli, is bringing 24 hours of comedy, skits, and sketches to Cincinnati’s Northside with their latest event, Fun Filled: The 24-Hour Comedy Revival.
From 9 p.m. October 17 to 9 p.m. Oct 18, the Hoffner Pub will become an all-day, all-night hub for comedy.
Fun Filled will showcase just under two-dozen local improv and entertainment acts like ComedySportz, Smoke and Queers Burlesque, The Kevin Bauer Power Hour, and each member of Holy Cannoli. The groups are scheduled to perform throughout the day and night, with hopes that sleep deprivation only fuels their comedic fire.
Hosted by Holy Cannoli, the 2024 winners of Cincinnati improv competition the Queen City Cup, this 24-hour comedy event is an homage and return of the competition’s final and most difficult challenge.
Coached by Caleb Robinson, the Holy Cannoli team was brought together specifically for last year’s competition when Robinson was asked to put a team of improv students and beginners together.
“I tried to be thoughtful of who I included but all of them were people who were in no way, shape, or form established at Improv Cincinnati or in just the improv community in Cincinnati.” Robinson says.
Since then, the group has performed together at Improv Cincinnati and bar shows throughout the area. After winning all eight rounds of comedy challenges in last year’s competition, the group’s final surprise challenge was to perform until $5,000 was raised for charity, or for 24-hours straight. Robinson says the amount they raised during that time and the motivation to get a redo inspired them to try it again.
“When we first did it, we had no time to plan, it was something we were told like this minute this is what you’re doing, and we have been, at this point, planning for like two months and we still have a month to go. So, we were like what if we could do the 24-hour challenge again but had three months to actually, really make it something special?”
Proceeds from the event will go to the Esperanza Latino Center, a Covington based non-profit serving the Latino and Hispanic community in Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati. The organization provides services such as translation support and assistance with enrollment for federal programs like SNAP or Medicaid. They also host food banks, a monthly diaper program, educational workshops, and much more.
“We had all of our members come up with different organizations that were important to them and then kind of voted on the one that we felt like we wanted to support, and we would have been happy to support any of the organizations that we had come up with, but I think something about the Esperanza center just really stood out to us.” says Robinson.
Fun-Filled: The 24-Hour Comedy Revival will go from 9 p.m.-9 p.m., Oct 17-18 at The Hoffner Pub, 4124 Hamilton Ave., Northside. Tickets to the show are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $25.
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