Live Nation and COMEDY CENTRAL Announce the Kick-Off of the Sixth Annual South Beach Comedy Festival Event From March 2 - 5, 2011

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The sixth annual South Beach Comedy Festival will take place from March 2 through March 5, it was announced today by Geof Wills, president, comedy at Live Nation. The roster for this year's four day, multi-cultural event will feature top acts from the comedy world including Doug Benson, Bill Burr, Adam Carolla, Kevin Hart, Gabriel Iglesias, Kathleen Madigan, Wanda Sykes, as well as a host of up-and-coming comedians.  COMEDY CENTRAL returns as the national media partner and Live Nation as the sole producer of the Festival, handling all marketing, PR, talent booking and production.  

Now in its sixth year, the South Beach Comedy Festival continues to grow and remains the premiere comedy festival for top comedic talent and fans across the country.  To accommodate the burgeoning audience, Live Nation and COMEDY CENTRAL have added more featured performances in South Beach.  The Festival will utilize multiple locations to highlight its exciting variety of talent.  Acts will perform at The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, Colony Theater and for the first time the recently opened New World Center.  The Free Live Comedy Stage on Lincoln Road will once again offer up outrageous laughs nightly, Thursday, March 3 through Saturday, March 5 to any and all attendees.

This year's performers will include up-and-coming comedians Rachel Feinstein, Michael Kosta, Theo Von and Sheng Wang.

Tickets are on sale now via livenation.com, southbeachcomedyfestival.com, the Fillmore Box Office, all TicketMaster outlets or charge-by-phone: 1-800-745-3000. Info on tickets for the New World Center shows can be accessed at southbeachcomedyfestival.com.

"The South Beach Comedy Festival has launched the careers of some of today's hottest comedians while playing host to an all-star roster of comedic talent," said Mitch Fried, SVP, COMEDY CENTRAL Live Entertainment.  "COMEDY CENTRAL is proud to have been a part of this festival since its inception six years ago and we look forward to once again partnering with Live Nation for this year's event."

Below is the Festival roster, locations and show date:

Wednesday, March 2

• Doug Benson @ The Colony Theater (7:30 PM & 10:30 PM)

THURSDAY, MARCH 3

• Kathleen Madigan @ New World Center (7:00 PM)
• Gabriel Iglesias @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater (8:00 PM)
• Adam Carolla @ The Colony Theater (8:00 PM)

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

• Wanda Sykes @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater (8:00 PM)
• Bill Burr @ New World Center ( 7:00 PM & 10:00 PM)
• Mad Cat Theatre Company's "The Preservation Society" @ Backstage The Fillmore Miami Beach (7:00 PM & 9:30 PM)

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

• Kevin Hart @ The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater ( 8:00 PM)

For more information go to: www.southbeachcomedyfestival.com or www.livenation.com.  

Or go to SBCF Social Networking sites: www.facebook.com/southbeachcomedyfestival; www.flickr.com/photos/sbcfmiami; twitter.com/sbcomedyfest.

The festival would like to welcome back its national sponsors Taco Bell^® and Kia for their sixth and fifth years respectively and thank our friends at Schick for sponsoring the festival this year. Local sponsors include the Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, the Miami Herald, and WSVN 7's Deco Drive.

About COMEDY CENTRAL

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide.  COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.  COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com.  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.

About Live Nation:

Live Nation is the future of the music business. With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online.  Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." Additional information about the company can be found at www.livenation.com under the "About Us" section.

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications