Tom Thakkar to headline Vail Comedy Festival Memorial Day weekend
Courtesy photo
Tom Thakkar from Los Angeles will headline Vail Comedy Festival, happening May 22-24 in Vail Village. The comedian has appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “CONAN” and Comedy Central.
His headlining show starts at 8:30 p.m. on the opening night of the festival at Manor Vail Lodge. Comics from around the country will also be on the show.
“This is the fifth year of Vail Comedy Festival and we look to continue a tradition of surprise performances at all shows but especially headliner shows, so don’t be surprised to see another festival headliner on stage at Tom’s show,” Masters said.
When asked about visiting the Vail area for comedy in Colorado, Thakkar said, “I haven’t performed in Vail, but I’ve performed in Denver plenty, as well as Boulder, Fort Collins, and Telluride. Telluride was a little trippy, because you had to take a gondola to go up and down the mountain each morning and night. I’m terrified of heights, so it made getting to my shows a horrifying adventure every day!”
Thakkar travels all over for comedy, so much so that sometimes he forgets where he is.
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“I travel a ton for comedy. I’m originally from Bloomington, Indiana, but I live in Los Angeles now. So whenever I see people in L.A. wearing Indiana gear, I am always really excited. Once after a red eye, I fully forgot that I landed in Bloomington. I got really excited that a kid was wearing an Indiana sweatshirt, and he looked at me like I was crazy.”
When we asked about memorable experiences in comedy, Thakkar involved his son.
“Doing a Comedy Central Half Hour and taping CONAN and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon were really exciting. It doesn’t feel like real life when those things come together, but when I look back, I get excited to show my son these things when he’s older. He’s only five months old right now, so as much as I try to brag to him, he doesn’t really seem to care,” said Thakkar.
Thakkar also spoke about the future. “I’m excited to work on some new material. I’m a new dad, and a husband, and I’m sure that will creep into my writing. But I’ve been feeling very loose on stage as a performer, with maybe a quarter or half of my set feeling almost improvised, and that’s been really fun. I’ve also really committed to posting a few times a week on Instagram and TikTok, and it has been cool to see the audience growing. If you’re on those apps, I beg of you, give me a follow at TomThakkar. It’s quite literally the only thing our industry cares about now! What a world,” said Thakkar.
The Vail Comedy Festival will feature three days of laughs with dozens of comedians and a film component will return for a second year. FILM@Vail Comedy Festival will highlight cinema in the comedy and mental health spaces and include movies that have won awards at prestigious events such as Tribeca Festival.
Multi-event passes and individual show tickets are available now at vailcomedyfestival.com.
“I can’t wait to see Tom in person, he’s so funny, he’ll be happy to hear the Gondola is not running Memorial Day Weekend and we got him a ground-floor hotel room,” Masters said.
