The Nantucket Comedy Festival presents the return of the Stand Up & Learn Winter Workshop and Professional Comedy Series, sponsored by Patricia Quick. Executive Director Kevin Flynn and nationally headlining comedians Tony V and Karen Morgan will be on island to entertain local audiences and conduct the season’s second workshop for Stand Up & Learn, a comedy education program for people aged 8–18.
Saturday evening our professional stand-up comedy show (for ages 18 and over) in the Dreamland’s main theater will feature legendary comedian Tony V and Nantucket Comedy Festival favorite Karen Morgan.
Tony V started his stand-up comedy career in 1982 after attending several shows at Boston’s prestigious Comedy Connection. He wandered in one night, quite by accident, looking for a little stress relief from a high pressure job as a case worker at the Somerville Mental Health Center. Tony was working his way toward a Masters degree in social work. It was not long after that he took to the stage himself. Tony’s street wise humor tempered with a genuine feel for the human condition quickly propelled him to headliner status on the national comedy club circuit.
In 1986 Tony V was named “Funniest Person in Massachusetts” by Showtime television. He followed this achievement with several performances on HBO, the Arts and Entertainment Network, Comedy Central and MTV. Network television was next on list for this Boston native with multiple highly acclaimed appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, Comedy Central’s “Tough Crowd” with Colin Quinn, and several sit-coms including Seinfeld and Boston Common. Along with being a popular headliner at clubs and colleges all over the free world, Tony V has worked with Jay Leno, Dennis Miller, Bobcat Goldthwait, Steven Wright, Adam Sandler and countless other friends and nationally known acts. Tony has opened for Kenny Rogers, The Temptations, Billy Ray Cyrus, The Beach Boys and Joan Jett.
Karen Morgan was born and raised in Athens, Georgia but now calls Maine home. A former trial attorney, she began her professional comedy career as a finalist on Nickelodeon Televison’s “Search for the Funniest Mom in America.” She has performed in comedy clubs from Caroline’s in New York to the Improv in Las Vegas to the Comedy & Magic Club in California. Her TV appearances include “Live at Gotham”, Nick at Nite’s “Mom Nite Out”, and national ads for Wal-Mart and Zyrtec. Still licensed to practice law in Maine and Georgia, Karen’s humor also brings laughter to corporate events, performing arts centers and fundraisers for charitable organizations. She lives in Cumberland, Maine with her husband, three teenagers and a “big dumb dog”.