OUR EVER-GROWING LIST
OF COLLABORATORS:
Kristen Burke
Mike Carson
Thomas Choinacky
Karen Getz
Kelly Jennings
Kevin Kelly
Christina Sabato
and Jonathan Ward

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
B.J. Ellis, Don Montrey, Amy Murphy, our dads,* Dan Platt, Jessica Sabato, and Lee Van De Velde.

*Also, of course, to our moms.  Especially for putting up with us and our dads– Ladies, you know what we’re talking about!!

The Philadelphia Joke Initiative (PJI) is a comedy advocacy organization, founded in 2009 and dedicated to supporting comedy, and comedians, in the greater Philadelphia area. PJI recognizes comedy has inherent cultural value, and will support and grow Philadelphia’s cultural community by regularly producing comedy events, nurturing local talent, encouraging that talent to remain in Philadelphia, and raising the profile of Philadelphia-grown comedy on the national market.

We make jokes happen.

                           Our logo, the King of Birds, is                            more than just a logo-- it's the                            history of our company,                            condensed into a neat little                            bird-sized package.

Back when Alexis and Kate were working together on A Year With Frog and Toad at the Arden Theater Company, they wanted to find a way to couple their passion for comedy with their love of paying bills and buying groceries, and knew that many, many other people felt the same way. That's when the Philadelphia Joke Initiative was born. But at virtually every meeting they held, sparrows intervened: one sat on the third chair at an outdoor café table, one sat on a nearby fence and squawked loudly every time someone tried to speak, one bit Kate's finger on a center city sidewalk.

Clearly, the birds wanted a hand (a wing?) in PJI and would do anything to accomplish their goal. Since then, the Philadelphia Joke Initiative has grown to a full not-for-profit company, and we thought the best way to thank the birds for their input was to grant their King some prime space on our website, our business cards, and anywhere else we advertise PJI. On a more philosophical note, we noticed that everywhere you go in Philly you find sparrows, and as our slogan is "Comedy Is Everywhere," we hope that eventually, we can make comedy as prevalent a part of everyday life as those little brown birds.