First ever Palm Springs International Comedy Festival and Awards Gala hosted at Hotel Zoso

Palm Springs held its first ever International Comedy Festival and Awards Gala on Saturday night.

It was a star studded, black tie event and the long-time vision of Paul Cruz: “We’re here to celebrate great people in comedy…people who have paved the way…people that have done great things to you know…enhance comedy for everyone around the world,” said Cruz, the director and founder of the event.

Stars like Kathy Griffin graced the red carpet — she was presented with the “Comedian of the Year Award.”

“When I was coming up through the ranks…obviously my mentor was Joan rivers [….] it’s important that we respect the women that paved the way for me,” said Griffin. When asked for her advice for young females that are interested in getting into comedy: “First of all…write your own material…write or perform what you think is funny…think of all the stars especially all the women…think about how unique they are,” said Griffin.

Illeana Douglas received the “Pioneer in Comedy Award” for her first ever branded web series “Easy to Assemble.”

“I mean we had our own soundtrack…I traveled overseas to promote the show…we worked with IKEA…so it was really entrepreneurial and I learned so much doing the show,” said Douglas.

The award-winning cast and production team of the summer blockbuster “Book Club” — also in attendance — earning the “Stanley Kramer Mad World Comedy Award.”

“I think if you make movies for adults…people our age…people show up. It certainly did very well at the box office its doing well on dvd blu-ray…I think it’s a movie that’s gonna have some legs. Because it really resonated with ladies and it resonated with me,” said Ed Begly Jr., starring in “Book Club.”

Comedians in agreement all night that with everything going on, the world needs a bit of comedy.

“I mean it’s a huge part of balancing out…the world can be challenging and dark and we were really excited to make something that felt optimistic and hopeful,” said Bill Holderman & Erin Simms, producers of “Book Club.”

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