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Vail Comedy Show returns for three shows with headliner Eddie Ifft

Eddie Ifft performs at Vail Comedy Show on April 14, 2022. Ifft returns this week with three performances.
Abby Dykes/Courtesy photo
Coming this summer...
  • Vail Comedy Show recently announced a summer slate of comedy shows including Geoffrey Asmus (Comedy Cellar), Erica Rhodes (from NPR’s Prairie Home Companion) and Nathan Macintosh (The Tonight Show) who was recently featured in a New York Times article about his special Money Never Wakes alongside Marc Maron and Roseanne Barr.

Vail Comedy Show is back this week with Los Angeles comedian Eddie Ifft performing shows Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He will be at Moe’s Original BBQ in Eagle on April 4, Chasing Rabbits in Solaris Plaza on April 5 and at Shakedown Bar in Vail Village on April 6.

Eddie has performed on Comedy Central and “Last Comic Standing” on NBC and headlines comedy clubs around America. A surprise guest who has been on Comedy Central and ABC, and is in town for a ski vacation, will also be performing at the April 6 show at Shakedown Bar.

We caught up with Eddie to ask him about performing in Vail, Australia and beyond.



Have you ever performed in the Vail Valley?

I did a show last year at the Bridge Street Bar and had the time of my life which is why I’m coming back. I lived in Vail for a short stint back while I was in college. I performed every night in the bars, but it wasn’t on stage and it wasn’t for money and the bouncers usually were throwing me out. I also would perform on the shuttle bus that would take me home to West Vail every night after the bars. The driver used to drive past my condo because it was in the middle of two stops. When it was cold, I would stumble to the front of the bus like I was way drunker than I actually was and pretend like I was going to throw up. Worked every time. The driver would stop and yell at me to get off the bus and I’d be right in front of my condo. For some reason, at the time, I owned a gorilla suit, as you do. When I was bored, I would put it on and go out for drinks. I don’t know why but people love guys in gorilla suits.

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Do you have a favorite Colorado comedy memory?

Sure. Last year at my show, kind of as a joke, I asked the crowd if they had any questions. A guy in the front row, said, yeah why doesn’t Pat Smith think you’re funny? Pat Smith is my cousin from Pittsburgh. It was just one of the most random answers ever. It turns out that this guy in the front row was Pat’s roommate from college 30-some years ago and I think I answered that Pat was just too dumb to get my jokes. I’m glad that Pat doesn’t Google his own name (like I do) and will never see this.

We heard you are a big deal in Australia, can you tell us about that?

Oh yeah sure I’m the David Hasselhoff of Australia. I went over there on a surf trip just on a whim and started performing in pubs to make beer money and get free places to stay. I fell in love with Australia and on my next trip back they asked me to do a TV show. I didn’t realize when I did it that Australia only had 4 terrestrial channels at the time and that the show was a big deal. The next thing I know I was walking down the street and people were yelling my name. It was a crazy experience for me because my neighbors at home in the States didn’t even know who I was. For the next ten years I had a pretty good run headlining festivals, going on the top TV shows and even selling out the Sydney Opera House to record my first comedy special, “Eddie Ifft Live.” I even met my wife (an American ex-pat) there and somehow convinced her to move back to America.

What do you know about the Vail Comedy Show?

That it’s just the greatest comedy show in the world in the happiest place on Earth. Disney World should not get to claim that, Vail should. Mark Masters does a really good job promoting it and bringing in top acts from Denver and headliners from all over the country. The crowds are the best because they are so up for a good time!

Any major events coming up?

I have a brand new special coming out on Amazon Prime entitled, “Man-Child” and we are about to re-launch my former top 10 comedy podcast “Talkins Hit with Eddie Ifft.” If I’m not on the road touring I’m back in LA producing my show “Eddie Ifft and Friends” at the top venues in LA like the Comedy Store and Aviator Nation Dreamland in Malibu. It’s so much fun because I get to perform every night alongside comedy’s greatest acts, like Patton Oswalt, David Spade, Tiffany Haddish, Nikki Glaser and Brett Goldstein.

You live in Los Angeles but tour internationally, how does Colorado compare to other markets?

Colorado has one of THE best clubs in the world (Comedy Works in Denver) so there is an incredible comedy scene around the area and the Vail Comedy Show has access to all these comics as well as nationally touring acts.

How would you describe your comedy?

I used to really like to make you laugh at things you wouldn’t usually laugh (about). I think it’s easy to make people laugh. The challenge is to make people laugh at things they normally wouldn’t find funny. Topics that they would usually consider off-limits were my favorite subject matter. Now with two young children, I talk about my chaotic family life. My wife would say that I have it easy and she now has to raise three children. I still try to keep an edge to it. When I end up in a ski resort though it drums up all my experiences in the mountains. I used to work as a ski instructor and a ski patrol and I had so many funny experiences that only the audiences at ski resorts can relate to.

What is next for Eddie Ifft?

I was in Lexington, Ky. for shows and Mexico for a surf trip the past few weeks and am in Vail this week. I love doing shows for ski resort people. Seems there are two groups at the resorts. The ones
that vacation there and the ones that live there. I can relate to both and look forward to
performing, skiing and partying in Vail.

Tickets are available online at VailComedyShow.com. These are the last scheduled shows before the Vail Comedy Festival which will fly over 30 comedians to the valley for three days of laughter May 26-28.  Last year’s festival sold out and this Memorial Day Weekend event is on track to sell out again. Tickets and more info are available at VailComedyFestival.com.


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