Universal Pictures And CrowdRise Launch "The Trainwreck Comedy Tour," Featuring Brilliant Talent From The New Comedy Starring And Written By Amy Schumer And Directed By Judd Apatow

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., May 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Pictures and CrowdRise today announced the launch of the upcoming "The Trainwreck Comedy Tour," presented by Live Nation, a tour of some of the greatest comics of this generation, which kicks off at Boston's The Wilbur on June 14, and concludes in Los Angeles at The Wiltern on June 21.  All proceeds will benefit various nonprofits and charities across the United States and Canada that have been brought together by CrowdRise, the largest and fastest-growing online platform for charitable fundraising.  Tickets for the tour are on sale now.  Trainwreck will arrive in theaters on July 17. 

Comprised of the phenomenal talent from Trainwreck, the new comedy starring and written by Amy Schumer (TV's Inside Amy Schumer) and directed by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Schumer, Colin Quinn (HBO's Girls, TV's Saturday Night Live), Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk with Me, The Fault in Our Stars), Vanessa Bayer (Saturday Night Live, TV's Portlandia) and Dave Attell (TV's Insomniac with Dave Attell, Arrested Development)—and Apatow, "The Trainwreck Comedy Tour" will crisscross the U.S. and Toronto on a fast seven-cities-in-eight-nights sprint from June 14 - 21.

Schumer has turned Inside Amy Schumer into a legitimate cultural phenomenon.  The Emmy-nominated and 2015 Peabody Award-winning program was lauded by the body's jurors with praise including "Schumer's wholesome, disarming Brady Bunch looks belie and enhance a comic intelligence that's smart, distinctively female and amiably profane, whether she's applying it to sketch comedy, stand-up, or person-on-the-street interviews."

Schumer will be joined on the tour by legendary comic Quinn, who redefined SNL's "Weekend Update," has performed his one-man shows on Broadway and around the country, and whose book "The Coloring Book" is being released on June 9; as well as writer/director/comic—and beloved This American Life contributor—Birbiglia; Bayer, whom HitFix praises is part of SNL's current "unstoppable trio" alongside Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant; and Attell, a no-holds-barred mainstay of the stand-up circuit and host of Comedy Central's Comedy Underground with Dave Attell.  They are joined by the Emmy, BAFTA and AFI award-winner Apatow, one of the most sought-after minds in the comedy business and the director whom The Washington Post has crowned "the godfather of blockbuster comedies."

Tour dates include: June 14 at Boston's The Wilbur, benefitting Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program; June 15 at New York City's Beacon Theatre, benefitting the National MS Society; June 17 at Toronto's Massey Hall, benefitting the David Lynch Foundation; June 18 at Chicago's Harris Theater, benefitting Youth Guidance and YCMA Chicago's Urban Warriors; June 19 at San Francisco's The Nourse, benefitting 826 National and 826 Valencia; June 20 at Seattle's Moore Theatre, supporting Hilarity for Charity benefiting the Alzheimer's Association; and June 21 at Los Angeles' The Wiltern, benefitting the Rape Treatment Center's Stuart House serving child victims.  For additional information, tickets and links to the nonprofit organizations, visit www.crowdrise.com/Trainwreck and www.trainwreckmovie.com/tour.

"I am so excited about 'The Trainwreck Comedy Tour,' said Apatow.  "I only made this film as an excuse to do the tour one day.  And now that day has come!"

Said Schumer: "I am so grateful that Judd made this movie as a way to trick us into doing this tour!  The shows will be great fun.  Can't wait!"

About CrowdRise

CrowdRise is the world's largest and fastest growing online platform dedicated exclusively to charitable fundraising.  CrowdRise is used by millions of individuals, tens of thousands of charities, hundreds of companies and many of the most famous artists and athletes in the world to creatively leverage their resources and networks to unlock the power of crowds and raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support positive social missions.  CrowdRise's unique functionalities as a platform for individual activists engaging in peer-to-peer fundraising and its strategic innovations as a high level partner for companies, foundations and major events…alongside its widely publicized success at making giving back fun, cool and aspirational…has unlocked huge pools of previously untapped support for charitable efforts, delivered with revolutionary cost-efficiency.

Founded by actor Edward Norton, film producer Shauna Robertson and Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe, CrowdRise has conceived, implemented and powered campaigns that have raised over $250 million to date and is on track to raise $200 million in 2015 alone.  

CrowdRise's major partners include the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon, Red Cross, UNICEF, IRONMAN, United Airlines, Huffington Post, Eventbrite, Square, the Skoll Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, CAA, UTA, as well as artists like John Legend, Sean Penn, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Ian Sommerhalder, Sophia Bush, Paul Rudd, Olivia Wilde and many more.  

The CrowdRise community was named a "Top 25 Best Global Philanthropist" by Barron's. 

About Live Nation

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world's leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, Live Nation Media & Sponsorship and Artist Nation Management.  For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.

About Trainwreck

No contemporary filmmaker has chronicled the messy human experience with the eye and ear of a comedic cultural anthropologist like Judd Apatow.  Hits as varied as those he's directed, like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and those he's produced, like Superbad and Bridesmaids, are all unified by their honest, unflinching, comic look at how complicated it is to grow up in the modern world. 

Apatow has also built a history of helping break distinctive new comedy voices into the mainstream, from Seth Rogen to Lena Dunham among many others.  Now, in his fifth feature film as a director, Apatow again brings a portrait of an unforgettable character, and a portrayal by a breakout new comedy star, together in Trainwreck, written by and starring Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) as a woman who lives her life without apologies, even when maybe she should apologize. 

Since she was a little girl, it's been drilled into Amy's (Schumer) head by her rascal of a dad (Colin Quinn) that monogamy isn't realistic.  Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo—enjoying what she feels is an uninhibited life free from stifling, boring romantic commitment—but in actuality, she's kind of in a rut.  When she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of the new article she's writing, a charming and successful sports doctor named Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be on to something.

The comedy, from a script written by Schumer, co-stars Brie Larson, John Cena, Tilda Swinton and LeBron James.  Apatow produces Trainwreck through his Apatow Productions alongside Barry Mendel (Bridesmaids, This Is 40).  www.trainwreckmovie.com

About Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com).  Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal.  NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience.  NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks.  NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

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SOURCE Universal Pictures

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