PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Prepare for triple the laughs when hometown favorite Ryan Gartley takes the stage — with two fellow comedians in tow — for a fundraising comedy show at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14 at University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Auditorium in Wieden Hall. UMPI is partnering with Taco Bell to present this special show. Proceeds will benefit future renovations to the Auditorium in Wieden Hall.
Ryan Gartley and Friends features County native Ryan Gartley, Riley Hamel — a newcomer to the comedy scene, and Kyle Crawford, a blue collar comic who has performed in shows all over New England as well as for troops in the South Pacific. Crawford has been a finalist in MCAM Television’s New Hampshire Last Comic Standing, and a guest on COMCAST’s Comedy Spotlight twice. Both Crawford and Gartley have been featured on the internationally syndicated talk show The Steve Katsos Show.
A comedy veteran with nearly 20 years of performing and more than 500 shows under his belt, Gartley claims to have gotten his start in comedy — otherwise referred to as his “hobby” — in 1999, a victim of peer pressure while on a cruise in Portsmouth Harbor.
He has since appeared in clubs, colleges, and bars all across the country, from Las Vegas to New York to Bangor, Maine. He has also participated in comedy tours and worked with rising comics: in 2014, Headliners Comedy Club brought him to Caribou for a show with two Boston-area comedians — Mike McCarthy, a member of the Irish Comedy Tour, and Rob Steen, who had multiple appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman.
With his quick, critical observations and dry “family-style” humor. Gartley has made a name for himself as one of the hardest working acts out there. A former semi-finalist in the Portland and Boston Comedy Festivals, his humor has been utilized to jump-start audiences for national acts like Lenny Clarke, Jeff Dunham, Steven Wright and Dave Coulier.
This show is open to the public and is rated PG-13. For more information about Ryan Gartley, visit his website at http://www.ryangartley.com. For more information about Kyle Crawford, visit his website at http://www.kylecrawfordcomedy.com.
For more information about the show, contact UMPI’s Community and Media Relations Office at 207-768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu.
