Summer of Tears gains top laughs at
Aspen Comedy Festival
By Amber J. Lawson, 3/2007

Comedy Cocktail Alumni Summer of Tears WON best Sketch group at HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen Colorado.  The annual fest draws top comedy talent from around the world.  Like many comedy travelers I was delayed by weather.  My Friday am flight was canceled entirely and no flights in sight to Denver.

I tried again Saturday morning and successfully landed in the winter wonderland.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  No time for skiing this trip.  I met up with Randi Segal Fred Silverman’s new top exec, Spikes Lisa Ullman, breakout talent David Hill’s rep Jodi Leiberman and Beth Seidenfrau who announced her new management shingle Yorkville Entertainment group and immediately immersed me in the shows to see.  We stepped into Windy City Players, the storytelling MOTH and the Summer of Tears sketch show.  We arrived at the awards show.  Certainly not a glamorous formal event.  Attendees in slosh filled boots and hat head couture.  Its informal presentation of Snow Globes feted Jennifer Westfeldt, for her film Ira & Abby and shared best standup and my dinner guest Shane Mauss. After all the high fives we headed to the Mexican joint for some Ole with the Super Deluxe Executives top content dealer and prevayer of all things funny Dan Pasternak and creator John Buzzell.  We all rallied at the fest headquarters, St.Regis hotel lobby.  Where we ran into Stephen Colbert, Michael Ian Black and Rob Cordry.  Off we went to the Sierra Mist room with dancing, games and free booze but the real party was the festival closing night party.  Locked down with security you’d think it was an Oscar shindig, nothing could be further from the truth.  It felt like my first high school mixer, with parkas. The Chinese food was decent.  The real action was in the lobby where we ran into Dave Becky wooing the newbie talent as we figure out the cool party to attend.  Since the UCB house, which had been the party hot spot for the week, was shut down, the closing night after after party was held at billionaire Michael Goldenberg’s insanely beautiful house overlooking the most picturesque views of Aspen in the insane cold and the one car in one car out rule we launched ourselves into the fray.  My whirlwind 24-hour Aspen adventure was completed by the usual airport drama and sleeping all the way back to sunny LA and another sold out Comedy Cocktail!