PUTNEY, Vt. – Gordon Clark and his Vermont Comedy All Stars return to Next Stage on Friday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m., for an unforgettable night of stand-up comedy. Featured performers are listed below.
Nico D’Elisa is a Burlington-based comedian and musician who has been making audiences laugh for nearly five years – though she has been attempting to do so since her birth in 1991. The lead singer of Nico Suave and The Mothership, D’Elisa was also a finalist in the 2024 Vermont’s Funniest Comedian contest. D’Elisa has opened for SNL’s Alex Moffat, and shared the stage with comedy heavyweights like Kyle Kinane and Beth Stelling. Her dramatic and unhinged storytelling, often laden with singing and dancing, makes her a comedian to watch out for.
Al Ghanekar is a stand-up comedian in the Maine comedy scene. He was born in Dallas, Texas, where all he did was drink baby formula for seven months before his parents moved. After leaving the acting world, he developed an interest in stand-up comedy in 2015. Since then, Ghanekar has performed all over New England, and hosted for national headliners at Funnybone Comedy Club in the Midwest. He has performed in different parts of the U.S.; Sydney, Australia; and Mumbai, India. And he learned that if you are going to write a bio for your website, always write in the third person to make yourself look like you’re important enough that someone else wrote your bio.
Meredith Gordon is a local Vermont standup who has opened for national headliners including Michael Ian Black, Ron Funches, Cameron Esposito, and many others. She’s also taken part in the Gilda Laugh Fest and the Portland Comedy Fest. Gordon has been a Vermont’s Funniest Comedian finalist and a two-time winner of the Seven Daysies Best Vermont Comic Award, and can be seen throughout Vermont, either doing comedy, or playing mom to her two amazing children.
Comedian, writer, and actor Adam Groppman grew up in Massachusetts, but became a comedian in Los Angeles, where he graduated from the Second City Conservatory, studied method acting, and jumped into stand-up. Groppman has performed at comedy clubs around the country, and at festivals in San Diego; Palm Springs; Ventura Harbor; Burbank; Boston; Big Fire; Portland, Maine; and Vermont. He has written and starred in short films at the HBO Aspen, Montreal JFL, Smithwicks Cat Laughs, and Idyllwild festivals. Groppman’s group Sketch Armstrong was seen at Sacramento All Sketch and SF SketchFest, and at the premium LA venues Comedy Central Stage and UCBLA, and the variety show Comedy Cocktail with Workaholics and Jordan Peele. Groppman has written for the LA Weekly, and his collection of real stories of Southern California, “An Imaginary Real Place,” is available on Amazon. His piece in the national hit show “Mortified” has been acclaimed, and you may have seen him in comedic national TV commercials. Groppman likes mustard, Pomeranians, and cash.
Gordon Clark, the host, is proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks. A lifelong organizer and activist, he took up comedy when he was nearing 60, and never looked back. Mostly because it hurts his neck when he turns that way. Clark is the director of the nonprofit Vermont Comedy All Stars, through which he produces and hosts monthly stand-up comedy showcase specials in Burlington at the iconic Nectar’s, and Montpelier at Bent Nails Bistro, as well as the quarterly showcase here at the Next Stage Arts Theater in Putney. He lives in Burlington with his wife, dog, and cat.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.nextstagearts.org.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill, in downtown Putney, Vt. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. For information, call 802-387-0102 or visit www.nextstagearts.org.