This is it…….

This year we’re trying something new!

Since its inception the CCAs were intended to be an inclusive event for the local comedy community. And we have been lucky enough to have had five amazing years of celebrating Cleveland comedy and the people and businesses that make it possible. The immediate acceptance and participation received by the CCAs has been beyond great.

Throughout the first five awards shows the CCAs brought sponsors, venues, producers and comedians together to celebrate not only the immense wealth of talent here but also to recognize the entertainment and advertising value of local stand up comedy.

It has been a pleasure. But nothing can stay the same for too long or it risks becoming stagnant/repetitious.

So this year we are trying a new approach to the concept of an awards show. The new format is going to concentrate more on trying to help move the comedy community forward (even if only the tiniest bit) and put the event’s funding to its best use for the comedians, venues, producers and sponsors.

For that reason, we’ll be giving away monetary rewards and performance opportunities that correlate to stand up comedy this time around.

There will be nine total awards.
Four will be open for voting. The other five will be named and presented by the person or entity giving it away. Similar to how the Bill Squire Award has been presented in the past.

Over the last five years we’ve learned a lot from watching the nomination/voting patterns. And the main thing we took away is that achieving total fairness and equality of representation was nearly impossible for most of the categories.

So this year we aren’t necessarily looking for the “ best” in each open voting category. We are just asking you to nominate/vote for the person you think is deserving or the comedian you would like to see win.

The non-voting categories will be chosen and given away by local producers. Those awards will go to whoever they feel is deserving based on their experience working with a multitude of comedians at various shows and venues throughout the year.

We will also be able to have more than twice the number of performances we’ve had in any of the previous years. That’s a great opportunity for more comics to enjoy performing on Hilarities’ legendary stage.

We apologize to the categories that were eliminated but hopefully this new format will be more impactful for the performers, recipients and local stand up comedy overall.

We have Elijah Nevels hosting and a ton of live performances and some surprise guests this year so we hope you’ll come celebrate Cleveland comedy with us March 11th at the best comedy venue on Earth!!