Comic-Con 2015 is happening all weekend long, and fans from all over the world are flocking the halls of the San Diego Convention Center to check out star-studded panels and buy all the latest “geek” gear for their home. However, considering the event sold out in a matter of an hour earlier this year, there are those attendees that simply can’t get in and enjoy what it’s all about. Don’t worry, fans — Comedy Central has you covered.

The popular Comedy Central announced today that it is holding its own special ComedyCentralCon, which will be help today and tomorrow at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center (200 Harbor Dr. #120). The event is open to both badge holders and the public alike, who can drop by and check out a number of activities based on popular and upcoming shows.

Shawn Silverman, Comedy Central Vice President, Brand Marketing spoke to [a]listdaily about the #ComedyCentralCon event.

First off, what gave you guys the idea to hold an event outside of San Diego Comic-Con Did you want to give something back to the fans that couldn’t get into the show, or . . . 

Fans are always our top priority and main focus so we wanted to create an event that would be free and open to the public as a big thank you to them for all of their support and passion. We always aim to create experiences that allow fans to get up close and personal with their favorite Comedy Central franchises and we strive for our events that are fun, interactive, sharable, and showcase Comedy Central’s sense of humor.

What kind of attendance are you expecting for the show today? It looks like there’s a lot going on.

Last year’s event was a huge success. There was a line to get in from before we even opened and it only grew as the day went on. A few thousand people played in our Moonbeam City laser tag arena last year which is even more impressive when you factor in that each game was about 10 minutes long and only eight people could play at a time. Based on the demand from last year we decided to extend the hours of #ComedyCentralCon this year and we will now be open from 11am-8pm on Friday and Saturday. We also focused on creating an experience that would allow more people to play all at the same time. Mini-Golf offered the perfect opportunity to have multiple teams playing simultaneously with a constant flow of people cycling through from hole-to-hole so no one will have to wait idly in line for very long.

How does this year’s event compare with previous events your team has held outside of SDCC

We launched #ComedyCentralCon a few years ago at SDCC as just a small daytime party where fans could come meet and hang out with some of the stars on our shows. We quickly found ourselves in a situation where we had to expand the event in order to accommodate all of the fans showing up, so we decided to turn it into a 2 day experience at a much bigger venue with lots of fan activities. Last year was our first year to do an immersive all-day event that included celebrity autograph sessions, a GIF booth and it was anchored by an incredibly cool black light laser tag arena that recreated the city from one of our new animated franchises, Moonbeam City, which premieres September 16th.

This year we are doubling down on #ComedyCentralCon. With so many amazing CC franchises on the air right now, we really strove to create an experience that could showcase many of them while still celebrating each of brands individually. Mini Golf felt like a great way to tie everything together to accomplish all of our marketing and promotional goals, spotlight our incredible talent, and create a free interactive event for fans to experience. Each hole represents a different CC franchise and we focused on bringing key elements from the show or the marketing campaigns to life and using them as obstacles within the course.

  • Broad City — The city of New York plays such a big role in the show so we wanted to bring a piece of home to SD with us. The subway entrance doubles as a great obstacle and upon getting the ball in the hole, a bong will blow out smoke.
  • Review — In Review, Forrest MacNeil reviews life experiences, even if it kills him. We used stars from Forrest’s patented Five Star rating system as obstacles for our course. Getting a hole in 1 will get you a 5 star rating on this hole! Review is back for Season 2 starting on Thursday, July 30 at 10/9c.
  • Another Period — The Bellacourts were heavily involved in designing this hole ,but they ended up getting drunk on Cocaine Wine and sent one of their Butlers to work it for them. The course is littered with “Cocaine Wine” bottles and there are actually 2 holes on this hole, 1 huge hole for the Bellacourts to ensure they get a hole in one (at which point their butler will lift the tray off the hole) and another standard size hole for the help and peasants.
  • Why With Hannibal Buress — The key art for this campaign features Hannibal’s face wrapping an entire building with Hannibal himself is walking out of the building through a small door at the bottom, so using that door as the passageway to the hole was a no brainer. Hannibal will be stopping by our event to play a few rounds and might even heckle a few fans as they try to get a hole in one.
  • Key & Peele — The K&P hole features a motorized revolving door — just like the one featured in all of their Valet Sketches. The ball must pass through it and will then be shot out and down a ramp towards the hole.
  • Workaholics — We recreated the roof of their house where the guys spend lots of time smoking and drinking as our obstacle. The hole is also littered w/beer pong cups, just like their front yard.
  • Inside Amy Schumer — As Amy said, “2015 is the year of the ass” so we brought our key art for this season to life and created 3D “butts” as obstacles that players will have to navigate around to get the ball in the hole.
  • Moonbeam City — After the success of our Moonbeam City laser tag arena at COMEDYCENTRALCON last year, we had to find a way to bring Moonbeam back to SDCC for year two. We worked closely with the show creators to design this hole and re-create the city itself.

Beyond Mini-Golf, we also have a GIF booth where fans can step into a scene with the stars of their favorite Comedy Central franchise and make it look like they are up close and personal with the stars of each show.

We also have an incredibly cool 360 degree Drunk History booth that we think the fans are going to love. The custom built boothrotates 360 degrees while someone stands inside and tries to stay on their feet. It’s more challenging than it sounds and can make even the most coordinated person look like a drunken mess. Personal videos are captured of each participant which they can they share on their desired social platform.

On top of all that we’ve added a prize wheel this year where fans will have the chance to win prizes from virtually every Comedy Central show on the air.

And last but certainly not least, stars of multiple shows including Workaholics, Drunk History, Another Period, The Meltdown, WHY with Hannibal Buress and Moonbeam City will be stopping by to meet fans, sign autographs, and compete against fans on our mini-golf course.

We’re very excited to bring all of this to life this year and can’t wait to celebrate with the fans!

More Details
People who drop by for the con will be able to take part in a nine-hole miniature golf course, featuring holes based on shows like Moonbeam City, @midnight, Inside Amy Schumer and Key & Peele, along with a photo booth that allows attendees to get pics with their favorite stars from shows like Broad City and Another Period. There will also be a prize wheel offering fun little collectibles, as well as stars from shows dropping by for autographs, although a specific schedule wasn’t given.

The channel will also host a special episode of The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail later this evening at the American Comedy Co., featuring the best in live comedy entertainment.

Although Comedy Central will also be hosting panels at the event — announcing its new animated series Moonbeam City with Rob Lowe and discussing other shows like Another Period and Drunk History — it set up this exhibit for fans not fortunate enough to get into Comic-Con — and they’re likely to drop by and have fun. More examples of the holes in the mini-golf course can be found below — and the Workaholics hole definitely looks like fun.

This is just one of the many events taking place outside Comic-Con for non-badge holders to enjoy. Ubisoft opened up an Assassin’s Creed Experience right across the street from the Convention Center, where fans can check out the game and try their luck at an obstacle course; and Nerdist Industries has teamed up with Legendary Networks to host a Conival, featuring a number of stars and activities, including a special laser tag arena that ties in with the forthcoming game Battleborn from 2K Games. More details on that event can be found here.