TEDx Asbury Park Talk This Weekend At Two River Theater In Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — If you're looking for something to do this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1, will be the popular TEDx Asbury Park event.

Although the event is called TEDx Asbury Park, the two-day festival/speaking series is actually held at Two River Theater in Red Bank.

Inspired by the TED Talks first launched in California, TEDxAsburyPark is the largest, highest-rated TEDx conference on the East Coast. TEDxAsburyPark launched in 2013 and used to be held at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park. They've since moved the series to Red Bank.

Monmouth County's own celebrity Chef David Burke will speak, as will Rumson resident and actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan, plus many others.

This weekend is their JOY experience, "an experience featuring TED Talks and performances where we will explore JOY in ideas. JOY will feature a theatrical lineup of expert speakers, comics, musicians, performers and artists who will share inspiring stories and ideas."

Tickets for the two-day event are available on the Two River Theater website. Ticket prices start at $75.

Line-up of TEDxAsburyPark JOY 2022 Speakers:

David Burke - Food is Joy

Monmouth native David Burke (the owner of Red Horse in Rumson, Drifthouse in Sea Bright and brand-new THE GOAT in Union Beach) owns and operates 18 award-winning restaurants across the globe. As a high school wrestler, he got his start in a local cooking class, and became determined to become a global top chef. Burke grew up in Hazlet and appeared on two seasons of Bravo's "Top Chef." Follow his story in his talk "Food is Joy" at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Composer David Cieri - B-Side/Ourselves

Cieri, composer for many films by Ken Burns and others, will compose and perform his original musical overture for JOY, and share with us about how he gets unstuck in his creative process.

Actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan - Former Saturday Night Live cast member who lives in Rumson - her talk is "Film as Community"

Hogan, a Rumson/Ireland resident, became "unstuck " in her pro acting career by conceiving, writing, producing, directing and funding two impactful films based on what large communities most cared about.

Erin Maguire - Joy Drought

Montclair resident and national comic and actress, Erin Maguire navigates the entire event with her funny co-hosting and guidance, then wraps it up along with our COVID experience in the Joy Drought.

Roger Mannix - Play Your Way to Joy

Actor turned entrepreneur, Mannix has taught improv and acting at Stanford University and for Fortune 1,000 companies. He now shows us how to bring acting and improvisation to work to be more successful.

Michelle Mitchell - OGs

Returning TEDxAsbury speaker, documentarian/journalist Mitchell, is bringing to life the “original gangsters” or the outlaw originators of the cannabis movement in the West before it was legal.

Edafe Okporo - Home Is Joy

Okporo is a persecuted Nigerian refugee who arrived “home” in the U.S. by publishing his new book "Asylum," working with Afghan refugees, getting his MBA at NYU and getting married. He shares how refugees can integrate and feel at home and fully productive in the United States.

Atoosa Rubenstein - Leaving it All to Have it All

Rubenstein, an Iranian immigrant, became the youngest editor at Hearst and transformed several magazines. Then she left it all in order to come to grips with her deeper, inner story that now powers her joy.

Jim Watt, Antonie Drye & Mike Noordzy - 1,000 Watts

Asbury Park artist, architect and producer Jim Watt and jazz artist Antoine Drye will paint to live jazz in a project to support jazz musicians called "1,000 Watts."

Rebecca Barry - The Joy of Death

Barry is the bestselling author of "Recipes for a Beautiful Life: A Memoir in Stories" and later wrote "At the Bar: A Novel in Stories," a New York Times Notable Book. She is co-founder of the magazine Fresh Dirt. A notable MOTH storyteller, she shares about Finding Joy in Death.

Plus, three surprise comedy acts and one surprise band this weekend.

All audience members over the age of five will be required to show proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination and wear masks while inside the theater building. Exceptions are only made for patrons eating and/or drinking in designated areas within one hour prior to showtime.

TEDxAsburyPark Fast Facts

● TEDxAsburyPark talks have been viewed over 6.5 million times

● TEDxAsburyPark events have had over 5,000 attendees

● TEDxAsburyPark has produced over 250 Ted Talks

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