Back for its 20th year, the New York Comedy Festival is bringing some of the biggest names in comedy -- past and present -- to the Big Apple.
Acts like Bill Maher, Judd Apatow, Gabriel Iglesias, Tracy Morgan, J.B. Smoove, and Justin Silva are lined up for the event.
Caroline Hirsch, founder of the festival and the iconic comedy club Carolines, reflected on the legendary club.
"God, it was the home to everyone," she said. "I mean, we had a really terrific run. We had 40 years of making people laugh."
Although the club is closed, the laughs continue with around 300 shows. The festival opens with an all-star tribute to the legendary Joan Rivers at the Apollo Theater.
"We have a, a show called 'Dead Funny' which her daughter Melissa has put together," said Hirsch. "It's her 10th anniversary of her passing. Boy, she'd be really happy to see this tribute to her. She was such a mentor to so many of the young women today that are doing standup."
Hirsch said there is a tribute to Gilbert Gottfried at the Hard Rock and she explained what else the festival has to offer.
"We have Jaboukie Young-White here, then we have New York's Funniest, which we do right here in this room at the Hard Rock and that's on Saturday, November 16th," Hirsch said. "And that's a great show where a lot of our big stars have come out of finding New York's Funniest."
From stand-up to podcasts and even a special look at comedy's unsung heroes -- the warm-up comics -- this year's festival is expanding.
"And we have on November 11th, which is Veterans Day, our big, big charity event, Stand Up for Heroes," said Hirsch. "And that's there at the David Geffen Hall. And that's a fundraiser that we do every year for the Bob Woodard Foundation."
In a city that never stops moving, there's always time to stop and laugh.
The laughs begin Thursday night and run through November 17. For ticket information, visit NewYorkComedyFestival.com.
ABC 7 is one of the sponsors of the New York Comedy Festival.