TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Comedy Fest announced its full lineup of company comics for the 2026 festival, which will take place April 16-18 at multiple venues across the city. The fourth annual event, presented by Traverse City Tourism, features more than three dozen performers from 11 states.
A portion of festival proceeds will benefit the Women’s Resource Center, a local nonprofit that provides shelter and empowerment to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The newly announced roster joins previously scheduled headliners Megan Stalter, Sarah Sherman, Roy Wood Jr., Gary Gulman and Joe DeVito.
Organizers selected the 2026 roster from a pool of submissions representing 33 states and Canada. The lineup includes Nate Armbruster, Diego Attanasio, Colleen Brennan, Ryan Brown, Rosey Catherine, Jason Chatfield, Mike Cronin, Marcus Cusic, Ren Dawe, Janelle Draper, Darrick Ervin II, Tim Finkel, Bri Giger, Bret Hayden, Jason Jamerson, Sheila Loveley, Amma Marfo, Mike Maxwell, Leslie Mitchell, Kenneth Mock, Johnny Mocny, Nthenya Ndunda, Lisa Rimmert, Patty Rooney, Cam Rowe, Chris Schmidt, Pat Sievert, Danielle Thralow, Esteban Touma, Wes Ward, Brad Wenzel, Ken Witzgall, Andrew Yang and Chris Young.
The festival will also feature multiple improv and specialty programs. Returning Traverse City groups include Full Tilt Comedy and Good on Paper. Local performers will also appear in a showcase titled Kamikaze Comedy. Other featured shows include Big Fun Murder, Planet Ant and That Thing You Pull When You Want It To Stop. The weekend schedule also includes a Roast Battle, a Comedy Rumble, clean and dirty comedy showcases, open mic events and comedy karaoke.
The Women’s Resource Center, which will benefit from festival proceeds, has operated in the region since 1975. It was the first organization in the community to open an emergency shelter for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. It remains the only agency providing these specialized services to residents in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie and Kalkaska counties.
Demand for the center’s services has increased significantly over the past year. The organization reported caring for nearly 25% more survivors than the previous year. This work included answering almost 5,000 calls and providing safe shelter to 133 people fleeing violence. All services provided by the agency are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day.
Tickets for improv and specialty shows will go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 10. Tickets for most other festival events are currently available through the festival website. The specific lineup of comics performing at each individual event will be announced in the coming weeks.