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Boston Comedy Chicks
September 6, 2019 @ 7:30 pm
$28
~RECEPTION: 7:00~
~SHOW: 7:30~
Presented by Greater Newburyport Ovarian Cancer Awareness (GNOCA), this hip quartet is composed of four dynamic comedians—Tooky Kavanagh, Erin Maguire, Carolyn Plummer and Emily Ruskowski.
Though each has independently developed an enthusiastic following at popular Boston venues and beyond, together they pack a real wallop—offering a restorative evening of wry commentary, off-kilter wit and incisive hilarity.
WHO ARE THE EVENING’S COMEDIANS?
Tooky Kavanagh 
Honesty, charm, charisma and edge characterize the wit of Tooky (rhymes with Cookie) Kavanagh. Regularly seen at such venues as the Comedy Studio (December 2018 Comic-in-Residence), ImprovBoston, and Laugh Boston, she has also appeared in New York City and Denver. Among her numerous stand-up credits are the 2017 Women in Comedy Festival, Thunderfest 2017, the 2017 Boston Comedy Festival, Stand Up Thursdays at John Harvard’s (as a headliner), the Producer’s Club and Comic Sit-In at the Riot Theater. As an actor, she is a regular cast member of the Redo Crew for Starstruck: Close Encounters of the Awkward Kind. She starred, as The Humbled Hero in a 48-Hour Film Project film, is a featured character in the short film, Woman Unknown, and a recurring character in the upcoming web series, Paid for By. To benefit Lahey Health Cancer Institute, Tooky evoked laughter and warmed hearts by performing at Comics Against Cancer, at Breakaway in Danvers in May 2019.
Erin Maguire 
Hailing from Arlington, MA, Erin Maguire now calls New York City home, and she performs regularly at clubs all over the Big Apple. She recently appeared on Gotham Live and has been seen on ESPN and Game Show Network. She also did her own headlining show, called “Smahtass,” at Stand Up NY. In addition to her two years with Women in Comedy Festival, she has appeared at Woodstock Comedy, Laugh Your Asheville Off, Boston Comedy Festival, and the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival (for the opening of the National Comedy Center). She is the first Boston Comedy Chick to win Mohegan Sun’s Last Comix Standing and Slaughter Stand-up Competition. Give her a mic and a stage, and she’s totally off and running.
Carolyn Plummer 
Carolyn Plummer has been doing comedy professionally for over 15 years. She has traveled extensively and says, “I have worked at clubs, colleges, dead animal lodges, theatres and corporations, appearing with many of the top headliners in the business.” Although some comics rely on the monumental events of the day or the faux pas of the rich and famous, Carolyn prefers to zero in on the humdrum, day-to-day monotony and foibles of everyman. She sees no reason to gaze in the mirror and complain about not being pretty, rich or young enough. The third child of a Congregational minister and an “aloof” homemaking mother, she confesses to being “clueless” and claims her favorite band is “Blootie and the Hoefish.” Whiners, self-loathers and the generally woebegone need beware. Among the many places she has appeared are Burbank Comedy Festival, Boston Comedy Festival and the Women in Comedy Festival.
Emily Ruskowski 
A staple on the Boston stand up scene, Emily Ruskowski is also a favorite at clubs around New England. Known for her bubbly personality and contagious energy, she was named one of the Comedy Studio’s Comics in Residence. In 2015 she opened for Maria Bamford at the historic Wilbur Theatre in Boston. Emily has been profiled in the Boston Globe and the Washington Post and was a finalist in the 2018 Boston Comedy Festival. In addition, she has performed on Laughs TV on the Fox Network and on the popular Two Dope Queens podcast. Emily reports that Miss Piggy, Ru Paul and her father have influenced her sense of humor. Now there’s a wondrously potent mix.
WHY NOW?
September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, and in its ninth year, GNOCA (www.ocawareness.org) is striving to increase awareness of the subtle symptoms of the disease, to help provide patient services for women with ovarian cancer in the Greater Newburyport area, and to fund research leading to a cure. Aside from direct assistance to local patients and their families, proceeds from GNOCA events go to Ovations for the Cure (ovationsforthecure.org).
Each year, about 22,530 women in America are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and early detection is of prime importance in the quest for survival. In fact, with increased awareness of the earliest symptoms of ovarian cancer, a 93 percent five-year survival rate can be achieved.
GNOCA seeks nothing less than to make ovarian cancer, a notoriously insidious and deadly disease, a thing of the past.
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There is something for everyone in this hip show. In past years, this annual September event has been a sold-out sensation. The fact that it benefits the work of GNOCA makes it a compelling case of cutting-edge comedy with a commendable cause.
