Comedy Central Goes Live

Comedy Central has created its own live entertainment division and signed musical comedian Stephen Lynch as its first client.

Comedy Central vet Mitch Fried has been tapped to head up Comedy Central Live Entertainment and Lynch, who starred in Broadway’s “The Wedding Singer,” is expected to tour internationally next year with the help of the division.

Lynch’s deal includes a one-hour standup special and DVD.

The division is very similar to what Comedy Central has had in place since 2002, under the name Comedy Central Live!, which was also run by Fried.

A comedian’s agent books the tour and Comedy Central advertises the stops on its television affiliates. This time, though, the DVD is not through a distributor, making the division more 360 in nature.