The RubberCity Comedy Festival is the 5th annual comedy festival in Akron, OH and will be held on June 25th – June 28th, 2025. Showcases will be held at Funny Stop Comedy Club which provides comics exposure at a highly regarded comedy club and satellite shows will be held in various locations around Akron, OH.
The City of Akron boasts a vibrant comedy and arts scene that features multiple performance venues and centers around the Funny Stop Comedy.
As Northeast’s Ohio’s premier comedy showplace, the Funny Stop Comedy Club provides the best comedians available on the circuit today. Repeatedly voted as the “Best Venue for Live Comedy in Northeastern Ohio,” the Funny Stop Comedy Club features many different comedians over the years including Seinfeld, Dennis Miller, Steve Harvey, Tim Allen and many others performed at the old Hilarities. The Funny Stop has helped continue the tradition with regular appearances from comics like Ian Fidance, Kyle Ayers, Joe Machi, Pablo Fransisco, TJ Miller, Jim Florentine, Don Jamieson, Basile, John Caparulo, Pauly Shore, Carlos Mencia and Rich Vos, among many others, as well as Cleveland comics including Mary Santora, Tammy Pescatelli, Mike Polk Jr., and Bill Squire.
Aside from the comedy scene, Akron is surrounded by abundant greenery, featuring multiple outdoor entertainment venues, and adjacent to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Akron is a playground for active travelers.
The festival will be headlined by some of the best up-and-coming comics touring today and includes featured acts from all around North America.
2025 Festival Lineup
2025 Headliners
“Bill Squire is a comedian and the co-host of The Alan Cox Show on 100.7 WMMS The Buzzard in Cleveland that has thousands of listeners/viewers across the country on iHeartRadio and YouTube. Bill has 4 albums that have millions of streams across Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and reached number 1 on iTunes comedy charts. Bill has appeared on Laughs on FOX and Hulu. Bill’s comedy touches on his life as a step-parent, divorce, dating, and leaving the Mormon church in his early 20’s.” (Source: https://billsquire.com/)
Visit Bill’sWebsite, Facebook, Youtube Channel, Instagram, and Twitter.
Martin Phillips is a stand up comedian primarily based in Washington DC, but still travels all over the country and has even performed in Alaska! While in college Martin was named the funniest college student in DC and hasn’t stopped since; from performing at festivals, like The LA Diversity in Comedy Festival to the Cleveland Comedy Festival, and performing at colleges, appearing on the Kill Tony podcast multiple times, corporate gigs, apartment shows – Martin does it all! Be sure to check out where he’ll be next or contact him if interested!
Curtis Cook is a standup comedian and WGA Award-nominated writer who has puked after a keg stand on a show called Flophouse, traveled through an Ebola checkpoint for a segment on Vice News, appeared on IFC’s Portlandia, performed standup on Comedy Central, and been featured on Vulture’s annual Comedians You Should & Will Know list.
In addition to performing, Curtis has written for the reboot of Crank Yankers, the Imagen Award winning comedy This Fool on Hulu, the NAACP Award winning series Survival of the Thickest on Netflix, the GLAAD nominated American Dad on TBS, and the upcoming show Adults on FX. I can also say that my work has appeared on Fox, but only because one time Tucker Carlson did a whole segment about how much he hates my guts. Jokes on you, White Louis Farrakhan, ‘cause now I get to use the Fox logo when I promote my events!
What the fuck else am I supposed to put here? Should I list all the festivals I’ve done that no one gives a shit about? Huh?! The Salt Lake City Comedy Carnivale ringing any bells?! You want me to tell you that I “shared the stage” with comics I once shook hands with at a poorly attended showcase? Or better yet, I could reference every club I’ve worked for while casually leaving out key details, like that The Ohio Funny Farm is actually just a closet under a hotel staircase or how when I say I “frequently appear at The Comedy Store” what I really mean is that I “occasionally do drugs in their bathroom.” Or maybe you want me to be like, “Curtis Cook has opened for legends like Dave Attell” just ‘cause I once spent a week featuring for him while he was doing a run of shows for the express purpose of making enough money to buy his mom a new security system – which I know because when I said, “Hey, man, it’s cool to meet you,” he very kindly replied, “I’m only doing this ‘cause my mom needs a new security system.” Is that what you want, you fuckin’ sickos?! And why does Dave Attell’s mom have so many enemies?!
Just come to my goddamn show, okay? Think of it like a standup Instagram reel, but with laughter. By the way, my jokes have gotten millions of views online. That means something to some people, and if you’re one of those people, you disgust me. In fact, why are you even reading this? Are you like, “Oh, if the bio is cute, maybe the live performance will be funny?” That’s a ridiculous thing to do. You’re being ridiculous.
Hayden’s quick wit and cheerful self-deprecation has earned them a spot as an America’s Got Talent semifinalist, a headlining show at Netflix is a Joke, roles on Adult Swim/HBOMax’s Tuca and Bertie, and over two million followers on social media. When not on the road, Hayden lives on a farm in Colorado with equine-pals Chicken Elizabeth Nugget, Squidward, Debbi From Accounting, and Donkey Devito.
Rob Stant is a stand up comedian based just outside of Philadelphia. He was 2nd runner up for Phillys Phunniest and has found great success on social media amassing a substantial amount of followers on Tik Tok and Instagram. Rob is best known for his observational humor and stories about his wife and family, but also enjoys poking fun at himself and the audience. You can watch his special “Bobby Boy” on YouTube and listen to his podcast “Two in the Stink” on all streaming platforms.
From the Sunset Strip’s World Famous Comedy Store to three seasons on Comedy Central, the original Roast Battle insult competition launched “Roast Battle League (RBL) in 2023. The “Fight Club for Comedians” has expanded worldwide in a league format to discover the best roast writers in the world. Comedians go head to head in a verbal battle of wits and insults.
The league consists of 8 US cities and 8 international cities, one of which is right here in Cleveland, Ohio. Roast Battle Cleveland, which was previously known as The Ad Hominem Attack Show, is the longest running Roast Battle showcase in the Midwest, starting shows in 2016. Now rebranded, it truly is Cleveland vs. The World.