FOUNDED BY NANCY LEVINE AND ROBIN LAKIN,
THE LADIES ROOM COMEDY FESTIVAL IS CELEBRATING
ITS SECOND SEASON!
Our aim is to empower and support ALL women in a male-dominated field. We are an inclusive festival, seeking incredible comedic talent among the finest female and female-identifying comics working today. We are actively and enthusiastically seeking comics from all walks of life. Our goal is to give a stage to the brightest comic voices of today and spotlight the most promising talent of tomorrow.
We're thrilled to announce that headlining our 2022 Festival is the acclaimed and hilarious standup comedian, host, Carmen Lynch.
We are also proud to announce our judges for this year's festival will be renowned NYC comedy managers and agents Jodi Lieberman, Gladys Simon, Jason Steinberg and Roger Paul!
NANCY LEVINE
HOST, CO-FOUNDER
Nancy Levine attended the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where she majored in acting. She toured nationally as the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz and as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. Off Broadway and Regional credits include: Housewives of Secaucus at Feinstein’s 54 Below, My Big Gay Italian Christmas at the Golden Nugget and A Sketch of NY at the Producer’s Club and more.
Nancy is also the founder of Laugh Out Loud Productions, an entertainment company that specializes in interactive theater comedy shows. Laugh Out Loud Productions is currently producing the hit Off-Broadway comedy "The Housewives of Secaucus: What a Drag!" at The Actors Temple Theatre in New York City.
She lives with her husband and three children in Orange County, NY.
ROBIN LAKIN
HOST, CO-FOUNDER
Robin Lakin, a native of Brooklyn, New York, has been lighting up the stage, screen, and stand-up comedy circuit in a career that spans over 30 years.
She was seen as a semi-regular "Man on the Street", writing and presenting answers to topical celebrity questions, on the Wendy Williams Show.
She has performed virtually on Dat Phan and Friends, and is currently making the film festival rounds as the lead in the award winning short film
"Postal", most notably at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York City.
Her festival credits extend into the comedy world, with appearances in the Manhattan Comedy Festival, the prestigious Ladies of Laughter, 2020 Carolines on Broadway Comedy Madness, The Burbank Comedy Festival, and most
recently as a semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival, among countless others in San Diego, Yonkers, and Westchester. She is also the co-founder
of the New York City based Ladies Room Comedy Festival, and will be appearing soon in season 12 of Last Comix Standing at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
Robin will also be performing in June '22 at the Comedy Chateau First Annual International Comedy Festival in Los Angeles.
When she isn't performing or competing on the festival circuit, she can be found knocking 'em dead at some of the best comedy clubs in the country, appearing at
Broadway Comedy Club, Carolines on Broadway, Flappers Comedy Club, Greenwich Village Comedy Club, and the Comic Strip, just to name a few!
It was at Broadway Comedy Club that her monthly show Hot Flash spawned a hit podcast with her producing partner, Nancy Levine. Since 2019, Hot Flash: The Podcast has welcomed a motley crew of guests from the worlds of comedy, film and TV, drag, nightlife, and theater. The bi-monthly interviews are produced by Gotham Podcast Studio and are available on all major streaming platforms, including
Apple Podcast, I Heart Radio, and Spotify. Previous guests have included Dean McDermott, Comedian Nicky Paris, Jordan Gelber, agent Roger Paul, Broadway Producer Ken Davenport, Miss Richfield 1981,
Broadway Producer and President of the NYC based Actor's Temple Theatre Carol Ostrow, Transgender Actress and Educator Bianca Leigh, Shameless series regular Mary Kennedy, comedy writter Neil Berliner, and Child Star Maxim
Swinton, just to name a few!
Robin's theater roots have found new footing in recent years in the Alpha Theater Company production of "Oy!" in NYC, “A Sketch of New York” at the Producer's Club Theater, and "My Big Gay Italian Funeral" in Atlantic City. In previous years she has appeared at the Manhattan Theatre Club in "Hallelujah Day", regionally in Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be in Pictures", and "The Memoirs of Charlie Pops" original cast
at the Cubiculo Theatre in Manhattan. On the Commercial front, Robin has been the face of over 50 national, regional and local spots, including Met Life Insurance, Robert Wood Johnson Cancer
Center, Anthem Health Care, Tapestry Health, Maxwell House Coffee, AT&T back in the day, Peugeot Cars: which was shot in Paris, and as a youngster was the Hardee's Hamburger girl for many years.
As a matter of fact, Robin booked her very first commercial at the age of 17 for a Hardee's dance spot, choreographed by the late, great Peter Gennaro, working alongside future star
Debbie Allen!
She just booked another commercial for Qunol, and will be shooting 5/22!
Among her many accomplishments, she has studied acting with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, was a professional observer at the LA Actor's Studio, an intern at the NY Actor's Studio, earned her Medical Degree
from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and raised three accomplished children during her 36 year marriage to Orthopedic Surgeon Jeffrey Lakin!
On a side note, if you don’t blink you can see her as a dancer in the movie “Saturday Night Fever”, and as Ann Turner in a few very old episodes of “All My Children “!
Carmen lynch
HEADLINER
Carmen Lynch is based in NYC and has been featured on a string of late night shows including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Conan, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Carmen has appeared in numerous prime time shows including The Good Wife, Inside Amy Schumer, and This Week at the Comedy Cellar. In 2017 Carmen performed a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her show “Lynched” and has also traveled extensively performing for the troops throughout the Middle East and Africa. Carmen also works in Spanish-speaking countries doing standup in Spanish. Her comedy album “Dance Like You Don’t Need the Money” was reviewed by The New York Times as “one of five to stream” and was voted the #1 comedy album in 2017 by SiriusXM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: http://carmenlynch.com
Instagram: @carmencomedian www.instagram.com/carmencomedian/
Twitter: @CarmenComedian https://mobile.twitter.com/carmencomedian
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CarmenLynch
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/CarmenComedian/
STACY GALLO
JUDGE
Stacy Gallo’s Casting career spans over twenty years and began when she was recruited to launch the in-house casting department for the world renowned production company Hungry Man. She led the department to prominence while spearheading the use of improvisation in commercials before starting her own casting company in 2008. Today, Stacy Gallo Casting is one of the premiere casting offices in New York City casting award winning commercials, major campaigns, and innovative digital content in addition to many Celebrity campaigns.
https://www.stacygallocasting.com/
https://www.instagram.com/stacygallocast/
GLADYS SIMON
JUDGE
A comedy legend, Gladys Simon has been performing, producing, writing and mentoring comics for over 40 years. She has been a pivotal component to careers of countless comics, including Jim Gaffigan, Jeffrey Ross, and Zach Galifanakis, just to name a few!
JIM MENDRINOS
Jim Mendrinos wrote, directed, and starred in the web series Living in Exile (New Media Comedy), which airs on Amazon Video on Demand. He is the chief creative director for New Media Comedy Worldwide, a full-service television/film production company, and studio. His network writing credits include Amazon, NBC, USA, FOX, HBO, and the WB. He wrote and directed the short film "Gail's New Boyfriend," which debuted at the Hoboken Film Festival, and his comedy special Not Dead Yet premiered on Amazon Prime. He is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing (Alpha). He holds a BA from Baruch College.
JUDGE
ROGER PAUL
JUDGE
Roger Paul Inc. is an innovative NYC based agency specializing in booking, managing and producing talent, comedians, actors, musicians and top professionals.
PHIL CASSESE
JUDGE
Phil Cassese is the head of on-camera commercials at Stewart Talent where he has built a competitive roster focusing on improv and comedic talent. Branching out to the theatrical side, Phil also created a Comedy Department at Stewart Talent focusing on a
small roster of improvisors and comedians for Film and Television. After spending several years in the music industry working for independent Jazz and Classical labels Arabesque Recordings and 32 Jazz, Phil moved into personal management after which he was
recruited to helm the commercial division of TalentWorks. Phil works on and has booked a wide array of Legit and commercial projects including multi-faceted campaigns to smaller niche projects - currently he has several high-profile campaigns running. Mr.
Cassese had an eight-year run teaching at The UCB Theatre in New York, the only agent ever to teach there.
