Howie Mandel On Board U.S. Version of Banijay’s Celebrity Stand-Up

LOS ANGELES: Howie Mandel’s Alevy Productions and Angel City Factory, a member of the Banijay Group, are teaming up to bring the comedy format Celebrity Stand-Up, which debuts today in Denmark, to the U.S.

The concept sees celebrities create an original stand-up act, then battle each other for who is funnier. The celebs will go head-to-head on the stand-up stage, performing their routines in front of a live audience. The U.S. version will have hour-long episodes that will also follow the celebrities as they work to find funny topics and test their jokes on unsuspecting members of the public.

Mandel, a judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, has worked with Angel City Factory before, on the Fox show Mobbed.

“There really isn’t anything like Celebrity Stand-Up on air in the U.S. right now,” Howie said, “I see it as a unique and clever spin on the immersive celebrity interview. The contestants must examine their own lives to write sketches based on their personal experiences, and challenge themselves to go outside their comfort zones. The result is celebrities exposing themselves in a very honest and raw way, giving viewers a really intimate insight. I am very much looking forward to working with ACF again and bringing this show to U.S. viewers.”

Chris Cowan, co-CEO of Angel City Factory, added, “We’re delighted to be working with Howie once more on Celebrity Stand-Up. We couldn’t have hoped for a more perfect U.S. partnership for the show. Howie is still a prolific stand-up comedian himself as well as a well-known and experienced TV personality, so as a producer, he will really be able to get the most out of this format, which can be an emotional roller coaster of tears and laughter. This is a true pairing of a great idea with great talent.”

The format debuts today on TV2 in Denmark.