They’ve got to be kidding!
One of the year’s biggest laughingstocks has announced its lineup for the fall, a stand-up set of performers headed by Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams and Wayans brothers Shawn and Marlon.
From Nov. 7 to 11, the ninth annual New York Comedy Festival will present 50 shows featuring 175 comedians, highlighting the city “as the comedy capital of the world,” according to festival founder and Carolines on Broadway owner Caroline Hirsch.
With shows set for Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater and other temples of New York culture, the festival lets New Yorkers see big-screen faces up close — including those of Gervais and Williams, who’ll each participate in a “conversation” in front of a live audience. (Gervais will launch the festival with a Nov. 7 talk at Town Hall; Williams, joined by “Curb Your Enthusiasm” director David Steinberg, will speak Nov. 11 at the 92nd Street Y.)
Other shows include Aziz Ansari’s “Buried Alive!” Nov. 9 at the Apollo; Artie Lange’s “Too Fat To Die” Nov. 8 at Town Hall and “An Evening With Bill Maher” Nov. 10 at the Beacon Theatre.
Kicking off the day after the presidential election, the festival may be more political than usual — thanks, in part, to Adam Carolla (coming Nov. 10 to Town Hall), who sparked a national uproar after The Post reported his claim that “dudes are funnier than chicks.”
“It’s an aggressive behavior, being funny, and not all men can take it,” Hirsch says of the controversy. “When you have a com-edian making comments like that, he’s trying to push it, to get a reaction.”
The comedy-world veteran says scheduling issues are to blame for the absence of women among this year’s headliners, though she notes that female comedians have figured prominently in past festivals.
Ansari, meanwhile, has pronounced himself “very excited to be performing at the New York Comedy Festival at such amazing venues as Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater.
“I promise my show is more entertaining than this boring quote I have given,” he adds. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go finish eating a sandwich.”