A journalist, an organizer, and a drag queen walk into a class...

This showcase features recent graduates of Lauren Kincheloe's Squalid Gold Comedy School. Watch Kingston's freshest comics take the stage for an evening of homegrown hilarity.

Line up includes: Andy Monk, Erica Brown, Chewy Altamirano,, Helen Macleod, and Adriana Wong.

Hosted by: Lauren Kincheloe

Lauren Kincheloe is a writer, teacher and raconteur. After working in theater and comedy for ten years in New York City and eleven in Los Angeles, she settled in Kingston NY in 2019. In 2021, Kincheloe founded the Squalid Gold Comedy School, teaching students of all ages the art of Stand-Up Comedy. Her alumni pack local venues and some have gone on to open for nationally touring acts.

Andy Monk has somehow spun inadequate coping mechanisms gained through a lifetime of mild inconveniences into comedy bronze. Andy grew up in New York City where he first began developing the kind of deep neurosis and hypervigilance that you just can’t find anywhere else. He moved to Kingston in 2015, and misses soup dumplings terribly. Andy started doing comedy as his drag alter-ego Sis Jenner, but after taking Lauren Kincheloe’s standup class, realized that doing standup as a man saves countless hours putting on makeup and is just as embarrassing. Andy also plans and hosts events around the Hudson Valley including The Audacity, the afterparties at the Spiegeltent at Bard’s Fisher Center, and Queer Conspiracy parties like Sheaster. Most importantly, Andy is kind of a bitch.

Erica Brown works at Radio Kingston as the Community Engagement Coordinator — a perfect job for someone with ADHD, since juggling a dozen projects at once is basically her love language. A Kingston native with two degrees from SUNY New Paltz, Erica had her first comedy performance in May 2025 and is excited to be back on stage, proving that community engagement also works with a microphone.

Chewy Altamirano is a local to Kingston, New York. You can find him painting Orange Manatees, interviewing locals on his podcast 'Five Questions and a beer', or taking a sabbatical any chance he can. Follow his happenings on Instagram @ManateeTheGod. 

Helen Macleod was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but eventually realized she is much more comfortable among loud New Yorkers. She married the first guy who correctly identified that she has the most beautiful ears in the world. 

Born and raised in Queens, Adriana Wong has called Los Angeles, Melbourne, London, and now Kingston (NY) home. A community organizer and co-founder of Good Neighbor and Kingston Techno. She has worked as a teacher’s assistant at a school for the visually impaired, a cancer research assistant, a visual effects producer, and sometimes she tells dick jokes.