LAFFTER EFFECTS - SMART STANDUP COMEDY IN PORTLAND MAINE
Laffter Effects brings smart, interesting, creative & hilarious standup comedy to the Portland Maine area.
CURRENT UPCOMING SHOWS!
COMEDY SITUATION
PAPER CITY BBQ
WESTBROOK, MAINE.
8:00pm
Headliner BRIEANA WOODWARD is a dynamic stand-up comedian and visual artist whose performances are as vivid and unfiltered as the art she creates.
Hailing from Worcester, Massachusetts, she has brought her high-energy, storytelling-driven comedy to stages across more than 20 states, including notable venues like Laugh Boston, The Comedy Studio, and WooHaHa Comedy Club.
Known for her bold, self-deprecating humor and imaginative delivery, Woodward crafts bits that unfold like mini-movies—painting scenes with words and pulling audiences into her delightfully chaotic world.
Whether she’s roasting her dad, raving about flea markets, or offering hot takes on DIY Pinterest fails, her comedy is rooted in authenticity and a sharp sense of the absurd.
Feature act AL CHRISTAKIS is a sharp-witted stand-up comedian known for his dry delivery and offbeat storytelling that blends personal absurdities with biting social commentary. Based in Massachusetts, he has performed at notable venues like The Comedy Studio in Cambridge, MA and the Great Falls Comedy Club in Auburn, ME
Hosted by ADAM GROPPMAN- a native Bostonian, Adam spent many years in Los Angeles and has appeared at several nationally established comedy festivals and at fine venues across the US, including many throughout New England. Adam’s act is smart, conversational and often performative.
FREE RANGE COMEDY
Excellent Maine standup comedy in a rustic-chic converted barn restaurant & bar.
THURSDAY MAY 15
OLD SMITH FARM
226 GRAY RD
WEST FALMOUTH MAINE
8:00PM
Only $10!
With Maine’s Lovable Comedic Madman… JOHNNY ATER!
Biddeford’s rising edgy/smart standup… NATE CURRAN
Art School student, calmly captivating & sharp minded painter of words…
ROSELLEN EARL
Hosted by delightfully immature middle aged dad & disarmingly aggrieved participant in life… ADAM GROPPMAN
But tickets online here.
Past Shows.....
Comedy Situation & Laugh Sanctuary show comedians have included:
Andrew Mayer
Al Park
Dan Boulger
Rob Crean
Janet McNamara
Jason Cordova
Awet Teame
Zenobia Del Mar
Alex Giampapa
Liam McGurk
Casey McNeal
Jacqueline Wall
Matt Vita
LAUGH SANCTUARY
SAT APRIL 13, 8:00PM
FIRST PARISH UU CHURCH
DOWNSTAIRS COMMUNITY ROOM
425 CONGRESS ST, PORTLAND ME
Chris Post is a Boston-based comic who has performed in the Boston Comedy Festival, the Rogue Island Comedy Festival, the The 10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival, and the Women in Comedy Festival. In 2019 he was a Boston Comedy Festival Finalist. He currently produces a podcast titled “Stuck And Poke.” With a lifetime of bizarre experiences and a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, Chris’s comedy is the story of a regular guy who spends every day trying to become a slightly better person. Results have varied.
Matt Dundas has performed across the United States at comedy clubs and festivals, and has shared the stage with the likes of Jimmy O. Yang, Alonzo Bodden, Jena Friedman, Stavros Halkias, and Tony Woods. He is a former student at The Second City, Chicago’s iO Theater, and the DC Improv.
A professional actor from age 10, Matt is a veteran of the stage and screen, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. As an actor, Matt has worked with Olympia Dukakis, Charles Durning, Campbell Scott, and Tracy Pollan.
Al Ghanekar hits the stage with enthusastic energy and a facility for voices, physical comedy and controlled comedic mayhem. Al turns his stern, sometimes grumpy father and hiw own turbulent life experiuences into pure comedy gold. Al has performed at fine venues and for top bookers all around New England and in the US Midwest.
Guest comedian Aaron Waldron hails from the sunny surf-haven of San Diego, CA, where his upbringing in that veritable paradise was weird & troubled enough to make him really funny. A male nurse by day, Aaron is naturally quirky & likable and his comedy appears subtle yet packs a punch.
Host Adam Groppman exploits his difficulties with the demands of mainstream life, and late-to-adulthood persona for your comedic enjoyment. He has performed at clubs and venues in numerous states and been in the Boston, NY Underground, San Diego, Palm Springs, Ventura Harbor, Burbank and Big Fire comedy festivals.
Laffter Effects & Ghanekar’s Moniker present LAUGH SANCTUARY- smart, original standup comedy in intimate, comfortable venues in Portland Maine.
This show is in Laugh Sanctuary’s home base venue- the Community Room of the historic, grand First Parish UU Church in downtown Portland.
* LIQUID REFRESHMENTS ARE AVAILABLE*
Purchase Laugh Sanctuary tickets here:
Hopped Up Laughs
EVERY 1ST & 3RD MONDAY OF THE MONTH
7:00PM
Brickyard Hollow
149 Main St, Brunswick ME
NO COVER
Enjoy a night of wicked good laughs and delicious beer & food at Brickyard Hollow Brewing in the happening center of Brunswick, Maine.
UPCOMING LINEUPS
*SPECIAL SUNDAY NIGHT SHOW*
SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 7:00PM
BRICKYARD HOLLOW BRUNSWICK
APRIL 15
Chris Fritz, Josh Marquis, Crystal Bernard, Mike Gray.
Past (& future!) Comedians:
Johnny Ater, Al Ghanekar, Igor, Matt Dundas, Ben Chadwick, Sarah Mather, Michelle Lisi, Casey Watson, Tuck Tucker, Ian MacDonald, Nikki Martin, Clenched Sphinx.
Brought to you by Laffter Effects & Brickyard Hollow.
Our premium Laugh Sanctuary headliner shows, produced monthly in conjunction with Ghanekar’s Moniker, are in the historic and architecturally significant First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church at 425 Congress St in downtown Portland Maine. Our headliners have included 2 WINNERS of the Boston Comedy Festival- Al Park and Andrew Mayer, and distinguished entrants in the prestigious Limestone (Indiana), Rogue Island (Rhode Island) and Black Women in Comedy festivals, and distinguished entrants in the Seattle International Comedy Competition.
Laffter Effects aims to bring smart, challenging-yet-relatable standup comedy to a town (Portland Maine) that deserves no less!
“There is no better expenditure of time and money than seeing a great comedy show, especially if you're a human being.”
Frank Lenkweiler
Smart Standup Comedy for Humans of All Ages
Thanks for visiting. Please Like our Facebook Page, Laffter Effects. And our Meetup Group, Smart Standup Comedy in Portland Maine
