It’s hot. It’s summertime. All you want to do is lay around and … laugh. Right?
Well, that’s what the organizer of the first ever Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival is hoping. It will be held at the Diana Wortham Theater in downtown Asheville the week before Bele Chere, July 19 and 20.
Let’s just stop right here and say that if the organizers thought the name of the comedy festival was funny, we’re gonna have a problem. Did they mean Laugh Your Ass Off comedy festival? If so, just say it. Does Laugh Your Asheville Off mean it’s all comics from Ashvegas? All Ashvegas jokes?
The answer is no. The comedians – a bunch of white guys, and one white chick – are stand-up talents from all over. And we’ve never heard of any of them. Going to see a stand-up comedian is so, like, ’80s, isn’t it?
Sure, we love to laugh and have a good time. But we’re just not feelin’ it. The last time we paid to see a comic, it was years ago at the Grove Park Inn and Don Rickles was there. Yeah, an old white guy. And old school. But the dude’s still got an edge. We tend to go for the classics.
We’re still gonna give this thing a chance. The event is “the brainchild of chef/writer/comedian/Ashevillean Greg Brown. While Greg was honing his stand-up skills in Charlotte clubs, he spent the drive home dreaming up how to bring comedy to Asheville,” according to the event web site.
Here are the jokesters:
Festival headliner Todd Barry has been on Sex and the City, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and Comedy Central Presents: Todd Barry (go figure).
Featured comedian Johnny Millwater, one of the fastest-rising young stars in American comedy today, brings Asheville his superb use of language, rapid-fire delivery and command of his audience.
Master of Ceremonies Joe Zimmerman was voted the “funniest man in Charlotte” by Creative Loafing magazine. Another amazing festival performer, Scott Oseychik, keeps ’em wanting more with his high-energy, highly neurotic, highly moronic stand-up style.
Others include Mike Buczek, Carlos Valencia and Carolina comedians Brian “big B” Fox, Clint and Jelisa, all of whom have performed in the top comedy clubs in the nation.
Bring it on. And make us laugh. We dare you.
2 Comments
Thanks, guys. We understand you’ve put a lot of work into this event, and we wish you all the best.
We’ll drop you an email.
ps Don Rickles was on Jimmy Kimmel last night, and he was kinda funny!
Well hello Ashvegas! Thanks for blogging us, though you seem a bit out of the current comedy scene, sorry Don Rickles! We do think the name is funny, and clean…something we’ve put a lot of thought into. We are providing talented and mature comedians a venue for their expression, with a minimum of d*ck jokes and a maximum of political, social and topical humor.
This festival is for the people of Asheville, as there isn’t currently a venue for stand-up comedy here. Aside from improv comedy, we don’t get to see a whole lot of what comedy is. Which leads me to understand why you think stand-up is “so 1980’s”. What we’re doing is bringing current comedy to Asheville, not Asheville-specific comedy, or Asheville comedians necessarily, but the art of stand-up to a place that supports the arts. All of the comedians, except for Todd Barry, are from N.C…again, we’ve put a lot of thought into that as well.
We support our local venues, trades-men and women, farms, and restaurants. This IS about Asheville, and we double dare you to laugh with us. In fact we’ll even double dog dare you… there are two tickets at will call for you and a friend just for the laugh, and the blog. Contact us to let us know which night you’d like to go!