SXSW 2017 Comedy Festival Initial Lineup Announced: Chris Hardwick, Wanda Sykes, Many More

SXSW, the annual conglomeration of film/TV/music/media festivals and conferences held in Austin, Texas, has just announced the lineup for their upcoming comedy festival. This will be the tenth year for the SXSW Comedy Festival, which has evolved from a one-night celebration of comedy’s rising stars to a week-long festival filled with live podcast recordings, live shows and broadcast tapings.

SXSW Comedy Festival head Charlie Sotelo said in a statement:

Over the last ten years, our goal has been to provide a space for promising comedic performers to collaborate with luminaries shaping the comedy world, and it’s been incredible to watch SXSW’s unique gathering of talent lead to successful projects and lasting relationships. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate some of comedy’s brightest minds and discover some new favorites.

This year, the comedy festival will be graced by the talents of people like Chris Hardwick, Dan Harmon, Al Madrigal, Jason Mantzoukas, Nate Bargatze, Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, Matt Walsh, Michael Ian Black, Nick Swardson, Scott Aukerman, Wanda Sykes, Whitney Cummings, Doug Benson, Jessica McKenna and many more to come. It will also feature special programs from Above Average, @midnight, ASSSSCAT, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Harmon Quest and more. This year’s festival will start off with a live special edition broadcast of Chris Hardwick’s Comedy Central show @midnight on March 10 at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, featuring contestants Tom Lennon, Cummings and Swardson.

There will also be an appearance from the cast of Veep, featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Gary Cole, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Sam Richardson, Timothy Simons and Tony Hale, most likely talking about the forthcoming sixth season of their acclaimed show (yay!). And in addition to his Comedy Bang! Bang! and ASSSSCAT appearances, Odenkirk will be featured in an exclusive panel, A Conversation with Bob Odenkirk, which sounds pretty great.

Find SXSW’s full first-wave comedy lineup below, and check out the schedule here.

Al Madrigal
Andrew Santino
Big Jay Oakerson
Bob Odenkirk
Bonnie McFarlane
Brendon Walsh
Chris Hardwick
Dan Harmon
Dave Hill
Doug Benson
Doug Stanhope
Dulce Sloan
Glenn Wool
Eddie Pepitone
Guy Branum
Horatio Sanz
Janeane Garofalo
Jason Mantzoukas
Jessica McKenna
Joe DeRosa
Joel Kim Booster
John Hodgman
Jon Gabrus
Liza Treyger
Matt Besser
Matt Walsh
Matteo Lane
Michael Ian Black
Morgan Murphy
Nate Bargatze
Nick Swardson
Nick Thune
Nicole Byer
Phoebe Robinson
Rich Vos
Robert Kelly
Sasheer Zamata
Scott Aukerman
Scott Thompson
Sean Patton
Shane Mauss
Shaun Diston
Tim Dillon
Tom Lennon
Wanda Sykes
Whitney Cummings
Wyatt Cenac