2026 Women Of Live: Becky Astphan

Becky Astphan
Range Media Partners | Manager & Producer

LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT | “Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter Tour.’ The G.O.A.T. Period.”
PHILOSOPHY | “Work with good, funny people, and do it as honestly as possible.”

GOING BIG AT THE GARDEN
“One of my biggest highlights has been Shane Gillis’ arena tour, along with seeing additional Range clients Matt McCusker, Dan Soder and Nimesh Patel successfully touring at the theater level. For Shane specifically, the year included selling out three shows at Madison Square Garden and announcing a record-breaking show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. All of that is a reflection of how much our comedy department at Range has grown.”

CATCHING THE COMEDY BUG
“I got my start in the world of live comedy waiting tables at Stand Up NY on the Upper West Side, where the general manager was a friend of mine. I caught the comedy bug and quickly realized by being around it every night, I wanted to be more directly involved.

“I started going to bar shows around the city and eventually booked and produced my own show, ‘Broken Comedy,’ at Bar Matchless in Greenpoint, hosted by Michael Che, Nimesh Patel and Mike Denny. From there, I began bringing comics into the club for guest and check spots and went on to produce another show at UCB East called ‘Chemistry Comedy,’ hosted by Matteo Lane.

“During that time, I realized I wanted to both manage comedians and produce alongside them. I began independently managing comics while continuing to produce my own shows, including several larger one-off fundraising events. One that remains especially meaningful to me was a fundraiser for NYCHA at Irving Plaza, hosted by Jeff Ross, with performers including Michael Che, Colin Jost, Michelle Wolf, Neil Brennan, Amy Schumer, Sal Vulcan and Yamaneika Saunders. It is certainly one of the things I am most proud of that I accomplished early in my career.”

GET WITH THE PROGRAM
“Women are truly the backbone of the comedy community — from the people running venues and producing shows to tour managers and operators who keep everything moving. Where I do think there’s still room for more equity is at the programming level, particularly when it comes to the decision makers around festival lineups.”