Comedy Night Fundraiser: Western Mass Toy Drive

The Western Mass Toy Drive is in its 11th year of collecting toys for foster kids and children in need. What started as a once-year comedy show has grown into partnerships with local business all over Western Mass as well as meet & greets with Mr & Mrs Claus, their elves and the Grinch.

While our outside events are family friendly, our comedy shows are for adults only and are Rated R (18+) for adult content & language.

This year’s show features:

Corey Rodrigues, Carole Montgomery & Julia Scotti. Hosted by Jess Miller.

Corey Rodrigues

Corey is a highly sought after national touring college, club and corporate performer. He was the winner of The Catch a New Rising Star, The Funniest Comic in New England and the 2017 Big Sky Comedy Festivals.

Rodrigues has been featured on the hilarious Gotham Live, Laughs on Fox and True Tv’s Laff Mobbs Laff Tracks. In 2018 he released his Dry Bar comedy special, was voted “best of the fest” at the Big Pine Comedy Festival and was picked as one of TBS’s Comics to Watch at the New York Comedy Fest.

In 2019 Rodrigues made his late-night TV debut on the Conan O’Brien show. In 2020 he released another 30-minute Comedy Special for the EPIX series “Unprotected Sets.” His comedy is honest and fun, constantly peppering in stories from his life and the lives of those around him. Mix that with a hilarious point of view and he’s able to talk about just about anything.

Rodrigues has been seen in multiple commercials and in the 2022 streaming Film Salesman. He played a major role in the Independent film Business is War, directed by the late Kemal Gordon, “Corey Rodrigues plays ‘Black,’ a financially challenged individual whose erratic funny cameos bring random laughter at a moment’s notice.” – Entertainment Source 617 “The rest of the cast stands out as well.

Carole Montgomery

In her early career, Carole Montgomery performed in various comedy clubs in the NYC area including the legendary Catch a Rising Star and Who’s on First, both now shuttered.

In 1987 she made the move out to Los Angeles with her husband Todd. It is in LA that Montgomery’s television appearances started to multiply. She has been featured in over 2 dozen television shows, including Showtime’s Comedy All Stars 6 with Don Rickles and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. The San Antonio Times called Montgomery “one of the pioneering female comics of the modern era.”

In 1992 she had her only child, a son, James Layne Montgomery. Soon after, while she was playing at The Riviera Comedy Club in Las Vegas, she was asked to step in to the Las Vegas revue Crazy Girls which turned into a 5-year run. She was then asked to join Midnight Fantasy at the Luxor Hotel where she remained for three years. During her time in Las Vegas, Montgomery wrote and performed her one-woman show Confessions of a PT&A Mom in various theatres.

In 2006 she returned to NYC with her family. That year she was one of 10 contestants on Nick at Nite’s The Search for the Funniest Mom in America reality competition. She has also appeared on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, and on the TV Guide Network’s Standup in Stilettos.

Montgomery was also a co-producer of the NY Underground Comedy Festival which in its heyday was dedicated to furthering the art of standup comedy.

In 2010 Montgomery joined forces with Armed Forces Entertainment to bring comedy overseas to the US military. She has been to over a dozen countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Haiti, Honduras, Djibouti and Kosovo. On her overseas tours, she refers to herself as the “NATIONAL MOM”.

Montgomery has directed and developed solo performance shows including Jim Florentine’s I’m Your Savior and The Lighter Side Of Death by Jim Mendrinos. More recently she was supervising producer on two television specials: Shang is Shangry and Paul Ogata: All Lies.

Her most recent project, Funny Women of A Certain Age, premiered on the Showtime Network in March 2019. It made history as the first TV comedy special to feature female comics over the age of 50.

Julia Scotti

Julia has been a very busy person. In addition to performing standup at venues all over the country, she is currently starring in the critically acclaimed documentary, “Julia Scotti: Funny that Way”. After a very successful film festival tour, it is now streaming on digital platforms!

Julia continues to break down barriers in every facet of show business, proving that age is not just a number, it’s an asset!

She is excited to have a cameo in the 2022 groundbreaking film “Bro’s” – starring Billy Eichner. She has also starred in a short film entitled “Relatable Joy”, playing what else but a comedian! And she looks forward to bringing her acting talents to more projects in the near future. Also on tap, is a Dry Bar Comedy special, which was recorded earlier this year. In the meantime, can see her on the Showtime network as one of the featured performers in “More Funny Women of a Certain Age”, produced by her old and dear friend, Carole Montgomery.

Julia has released her second album “Primal Cuts” following the huge success of her first album, “Hello Boys, I’m Back!”. Both available for download wherever fine comedy is sold!

And of course, Julia remains a fan favorite of America’s Got Talent Audiences around the world. Her three appearances appear on YouTube with over a million views on each!

Jess Miller

Using her own life as her bedrock, Jess has built an act that shows the humor in every aspect of life. Her fresh and friendly presence on stage makes her appealing to audience members from every walk of life. Her quick wit, ability to connect with the crowd and her on-the-fly creativity enables her to manipulate her material from an “every day girl” to brash and bawdy and back seemingly effortlessly. Her brand of comedy is a brilliant and fluid creation unto itself and it never fails to fill the seats wherever she appears.

Jess has performed at the Women in Comedy Festival, Boston Comedy Chicks, won the Ladies Room Comedy Festival, was a finalist at the Devil Cup Comedy Festival, Big Pine Comedy Festival, She Devil Contest and has worked all over the country at clubs such as Caroline’s, Broadway Comedy Club, Crackers, Off-the-Hook, Funnybone, The Coming Strip, The Punchline, Laugh’s Unlimited, The Comedy Factory Hollywood and many more. She recently headlined The No Nuts Comedy Tour which toured the country.

Jess ran a wildly successful monthly show called The “OMG! It’s Only Wednesday?” Comedy Show at the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee, Mass before the venue permanently closed then turned the show into a pop up comedy club to collect toys for foster kids.

Since diving into comedy, Jess has helped raise nearly $850,000 for non-profits, groups and individuals with her FunnyRaising Comedy Shows, including her Annual Toy Drive for Foster Kids and Art Kits for Foster Kids (now Western Mass Toy Drive) which has given away thousands of toys to foster children with the incredible help from her audiences.

She facilitates of a private Facebook group page called “The Kind Squad” whose mission is to perform small acts of kindness for people around their community and the world. The Kind Squad became a 501(c)3 non-profit this year to expand and reach more foster kids and people in need.

Fees always apply to purchase. Tickets can be purchased in person or over the phone Tuesday through Friday 3pm to 6pm. Tickets can also be purchased online at any time for no additional cost/fee. All Sales are final. If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact the box office at boxoffice@aomtheatre.com or (413) 584-9032 X105.