Staff
Adam Cayton-Holland (adamcaytonholland.com) is a national touring comedian who was named one of 25 “Comics to Watch” by Esquire Magazine and one of “10 Comics to Watch” by Variety.
Along with his co-horts in the The Grawlix comedy troupe, Adam created, wrote and starred in Those Who Can’t, which aired for three seasons and is available to stream on HBOMax. The Grawlix also host a podcast, “The Grawlix Saves the World,” available everywhere. He has appeared on Conan, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Comedy Central Presents, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, Happy Endings, and @midnight.
Cayton-Holland has performed at the Montreal Just For Laughs, SXSW, and Bridgetown Comedy festivals. He has also performed at The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Adam has four albums all available on iTunes—I Don’t Know If I Happy, Backyards, Adam Cayton-Holland Performs His Signature Bits (voted one of Vulture’s Top Ten Albums of 2018), and Semblance of Normalcy. His first book, Tragedy Plus Time, is available everywhere. Adam lives with his wife Katie, his sons Malcolm and Ellis, and a purebred Chesapeake Retriever named Annabel Lee. He once threw out the opening pitch at a Colorado Rockies game and people have described him as “genial,” and “with decent teeth.”
Karen Wachtel has been a live comedy event producer, booker, and logistics specialist since 2014. With a 20+ year career in marketing, advertising, and communication, she combines analytical planning with experiential design skills to help create events that are memorable for all the right reasons. She serves as Executive Producer for High Plains Comedy Festival (now in its tenth year in Denver, Colorado), which has quickly gained a reputation as one of the best—and best-run—festivals in the country. In addition, she has served on staff for Just for Laughs Montreal, Riot LA, SXSW Comedy, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and Bonnaroo, and reviewed submissions for Limestone Comedy Festival. She also co-produces The Grawlix monthly show and annual 50 First Jokes show in Denver.
Karen has been interviewed by Interrobang, Vulture, and The Denver Post, and Westword once referred to her as a "fest producer {who} does not fuck around," which is the best professional accolade she's ever received.
In her free time, Karen is Vice President of Technology for a major Denver real estate brokerage…but that's obviously just for the cool points.
Will eat food off the floor if left unattended. Talks to HDMI cables. Prefers slides to flip-flops. Dances with his eyes closed.
Ron S. Doyle volunteered at the first High Plains Comedy Festival and has been involved ever since. During daylight hours, he's a freelance editor and audio producer. His audio work has been featured on Ghostrunner Records, Colorado Public Radio, The Lever, Rooftop Audible, F+W Media, and numerous independent podcasts. He was the digital media marketing manager for The Humor Code, a book about the science of humor. His writing has been featured in publications such as Backpacker, Mountain Bike, Bicycling, 5280, Westword, and Breckenridge magazine. He was the male perspective columnist for Complete Woman magazine and one time he worked for three weeks as a tarot card reader for Miss Cleo's Psychic Readers Network.
In addition to High Plains, he is the producer of The Grawlix Saves the World podcast, the tech director for DINK (the Denver Independent Comic & Arts Expo), and the producer and co-host of The Narrators, an award-winning true storytelling show based in Denver.
Will Hancock has volunteered at High Plains Comedy Festival for the last four years and was handed the reins of Artist Transportation in 2019. Will has been a comedy scenester since before the internet made that a word. His favorite comedians are all Facebook friends with him so he’s literally crushing at life. You can usually find him cursing in front of the hot-dog roller at the 7-11 because they are out of jalapeño bratwurst, which is probably best for everyone involved.
Sara Dee is a non-profit communications and international development expert who moonlights as an event producer. Because it's good to have exhausting hobbies. She began volunteering for High Plains Comedy Festival in 2014—filling in, fixing, stage managing, setting up and tearing down as needed. This year she's moving on up and has a formal title!
During her years in Denver, Sara founded the still-thriving Nerd Nite Denver (thank you Hanna!), sponsored by Sexpot Comedy and hosted at the Oriental Theater; co-directed and produced the first ever Denver Independent Comic and Art Expo (DINK) at the Sherman Street Event Center; and was a production manager for the inaugural Art& expo at the McNichols Civic Center. Basically, if it's nerdy, she's had her hands in it.
Sara has been interviewed by and/or written for Westword, The Denver Post, Girls of Geek, the Cannabist, ABC News, and Newsweek. When she's not running around Denver, Sara is either in Los Angeles or an airport, where she's working to actively dismantle colonialist models of charity that perpetuate systemic inequities like houselessness and hunger. You know...the light stuff. And this is why the comedy community is so important to her!
Widely known in the Denver area as The Chicano McGyver and keeper of gates, Carlos Madrid started volunteering with High Plains in 2014 primarily as a festival photographer but quickly rose in the hearts and minds of the High Plains staff as a formidable man, capable of great feats. He returned the next year, camera in tow, but with a vigor of a man 1/2 his age to become an all around saint of festival goodness, sprinkling every venue, green room, and after party with purity and beer for all to drink. He has since spread the good word to other comedy festivals around this good earth such as RIOT L.A. in Los Angeles and the late Bridgetown Comedy Fest in Portland. When he is not attending a comedy show or helping a friend you can find him building podcast studios, snapping photos on the street, or chilling in El Gringo (his van).
Scott Carney has been involved with High Plains Comedy Festival for over five years. He is also a producer of the award-winning podcast The Narrators. Previously he worked in Colorado broadcasting for nearly a decade, serving as an on-air host, promotions coordinator, and music curator for both Radio 1190 and Colorado Public Radio.
Hayley Roberts has been described by those who know her as “comedy-obsessed” and prides herself on finding the joke in every situation. She can be found floating around comedy and event spaces all over Denver: Underground Music Showcase, Great American Beer Fest, and, of course: High Plains Comedy Festival!
This year Hayley is filling Jessi Whitten’s shoes as Volunteer Coordinator, which means she’ll be running around doing all the things at once and sweating through every outfit, while internally fan-girling over all the comics on this year’s lineup.