Producing a comedy festival is hard work. Producing one in three weeks is pure madness.
Don’t tell that to Hari Kondabolu and Dartanion London, though. The two local comedians are hosting “The Week of Fun”, one of the most ambitious comedy festivals ever attempted in Seattle, from January 25-31. With only three weeks to prepare, the pair managed to book over twenty of the best young comedians in the Northwest to perform at nine local venues, including the Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) and the prestigious Langston Hughes Cultural Center.
Why the rush to put on the festival? “On a lark, we bid on an auction for the ‘Stranger Suggests’ section in The Stranger (the widely-read local alternative paper) for the week of January 25-31 and won,” said London. “Though this only gave us a few weeks to plan, organize and execute the entire thing, we felt we had to do this to take advantage of the intense nexus of talent existing here now.”
“Alternative comedy” (the daring and sometimes oddball brand of humor normally regulated to the late-night fringe scene) has suddenly become the hottest show in town, regularly selling out shows in places not normally known for comedy like CHAC and the Central District’s Central Cinema. Now the time seemed right to bring the cult phenomenon to the masses and for the scene to make a definitive statement about what it was and what it had to offer.
"We wanted to create something that would highlight the level of talent and the independent spirit of the Seattle comedy scene," said Kondabolu. "Comedy is flourishing in Seattle, and it’s happening outside the major clubs and beneath the radar of the media outlets, so most people don’t know about it. We hope this festival will change that."
The comedy festival is also collaborating with the local music scene, co-producing the January 26th show at the Langston Hughes Cultural Center with hiphop label Mass Line Media (Blue Scholars, Common Market), while the January 29th show at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard will feature alt-rock band The Young Sportsmen.
While the focus of “The Week of Fun” is on the red-hot alternative stand-up scene, other forms of comedy will be on display as well. The festival will feature some of Seattle’s best-known improv and sketch groups, including members of Jet City Improv and Blood Squad (a group that improvises live-action horror movies).
The highlight of the week for many of the comedians will be the Jan 28th “Celebrity Open Mic”, featuring local artists and members of the media attempting stand-up at the venerable Comedy Underground in Pioneer Square.
“The Comedy Underground is a sacred place for Seattle comedians,” said Paul Merrill, a local comic appearing in the festival. “Ron Reid and Carl Warmenhoven (the managers of the club) have been creating and supporting comedy in this town for over twenty years, so it’s an honor to have them involved.”
Kondabolu and London were quick to point out that they didn’t produce “The Week of Fun” alone. Most of the funding for the ambitious festival came from an unlikely source: donations from fellow comedians.
“That sense of camaraderie and group-support is a rare and exciting thing in comedy,” Kondabolu remarked. “That’s what this festival is really all about.”
“The Week of Fun” comedy festival runs for seven nights, January 25-31, at nine different venues across Seattle.
