http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/03/arts/bill-cosby-and-many-others-hit-the-new-york-comedy-festival.html 2014-11-03 01:15:41 Bill Cosby and Many Others Hit the New York Comedy Festival The New York Comedy Festival starts Wednesday with controversy surrounding a headliner, Bill Cosby, and a profusion of Los Angeles acts rarely in New York. === With scores of funny people plying their trade at bars, clubs and theaters, the city feels like a comedy festival every night. So why get excited about the annual HAS HANNIBAL BURESS CHANGED THE WAY WE LOOK AT First, some background: Mr. Cosby, the 77-year-old comedy legend, has been accused of sexual abuse by several women since a civil suit was brought against him in 2005 and later settled. Mr. Cosby has denied wrongdoing. Criticism of Mr. Cosby, who has been making a comeback of sorts with a new Comedy Central special last fall and an NBC pilot in the works, had been relatively muted (though Gawker and other outlets But public sentiment seemed to shift in October, when a scathing comedy bit in which Mr. Buress, 31, called Mr. Cosby “a rapist” He may also make it weird for some fans at the festival. Mr. Buress plays Town Hall on Friday; Mr. Cosby performs at Carnegie Hall on Saturday. Part of what makes these accusations so jarring is that Mr. Cosby has been the master of sweetly gentle if occasionally stern family-man comedy not just on his sitcoms but also in his stand-up. He will surely avoid the subject in his show, but it would not be a surprise if Mr. Buress, who has mined uncomfortable experiences for comedy in the past, addressed it — partly because there has been more fallout from his remarks. Salon published an Mr. Buress has talked about the controversy on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show and onstage. And according to a news report, at a St. Louis show, Mr. Buress said that he asked Dave Chappelle for advice, and Mr. Chappelle told him to patch things up with Mr. Cosby. Then Mr. Chappelle watched the tape of the joke and said he better not. THE L.A. INVASION There are also two comics at the festival who make me most jealous of Los Angeles audiences: Kyle Kinane (who plays Union Hall on Wednesday) and Cameron Esposito (who performs with James Adomian, Jim Gaffigan and Reggie Watts at the Bell House on Friday). They are spectacular comics hitting their prime who do not have television platforms and only occasionally make it to New York. Mr. Kinane has the raspy, laid-back presence and sneaky wisdom of the best barroom storyteller. Ms. Esposito has a more stylish persona, but a similar gift for plugging punch lines into personal stories. Ms. Esposito, a lesbian, does a marvelous bit about meeting a star of “The L Word,” which led to a discussion of the show’s significance “If you are a lady who dates ladies, ‘The L Word’ is a little bit like the Bible,” she said. “You don’t have to agree with its teachings, but you have to know about them.” IS THERE LIFE AFTER TALK SHOWS? When I first saw Ms. Schaefer, she was telling bluntly funny vagina jokes to sparse crowds downtown, then candid and involving tales on her podcast. She cleaned up her act for a weekly MTV talk show, “Nikki and Sara Live,” with Nikki Glaser (who performs on Comedy Central’s show “@midnight” on Monday), which didn’t involve personal comedy as much but offered her side-eyed take on pop culture, a sharp voice not too cool to show off giddy enthusiasms. Mr. Holmes, a sunny goofball with a wide silly streak, also gained traction from a podcast that led to two seasons of a late-night talk show on TBS that was ambitious and largely true to his stand-up persona. It was a fully realized and promising show that just didn’t find an audience. Both Ms. Schaefer and Mr. Holmes developed a small following — too small, perhaps, for television. How losing a show affects their careers is an open question, but it should be interesting to see what they do next. Maybe these appearances will provide a hint.