The 2014 Southeast Comedy Arts Festival will be taking place this weekend and is sponsored by the Southeastern Comedy Arts Alliance, The Powerhouse Community Arts Center and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council (YAC). The festival consists of two days of workshops and performances from comedians and comedic groups from across the South and will be taking place at the Powerhouse.
“The festival is like a family reunion every year for the performers and a great opportunity for the community to see groups from all around,” said Bruce Butler, director of Laff Co., coordinator for the Southeastern Comedy Arts Festival and MC/Host of Standup Comedy.
“The festival brings in professionals from nationally recognized groups, writers and actors who work with the regional groups,” saidWayne Andrews, director of the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council and of the Powerhouse Community Arts Center. “This is really a unique event as the public can see what the artist has been working on during the day through their live performances. It is a chance to see inside what makes something funny. Workshops of this nature are generally only held in major cities, so Oxford is fortunate that it has a thriving comedy troupe that works to bring this level of program to the community.”
According to Stacey Sanford, YAC Outreach staff member, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council is a nonprofit organization based in Oxford and has supported the festival for the past three years.
“Wayne Andrews, the YAC director, has been one of our most ardent supporters over the years, and the festival is no different,” Butler said. “He really wants Oxford to be a beacon of the arts in the area and uses his position to support wonderful projects like this year round.”
The performances will start on Friday night, followed by two shows on Saturday night at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
“There will be a variety show on Friday night at 8 (p.m.), which will feature sketches, songs, a monologue, video and local stand up comedians Sam Lyons, Nick Wood and Connor King,” Butler said. “Saturday night will have two separate shows that will feature all of the improv groups performing as well as some more stand up comics. There will also be three workshops taught by the professional comics ‘Marketing 101,’ ‘Story Time’ and ‘Exploding Your Scene!’ for marketing, storytelling and improv advice and strategies.”
These workshops will take place from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and again from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The festival originated in 2006 said James Comans, historian of the Southeast Comedy Arts Alliance.
“In 2006, there had been some talk between members of Starkville’s Lab Rats Comedy and Oxford’s Laff Co. about putting on an ‘Egg Bowl of Comedy’ of sorts, and when I was managing director of Lab Rats, we thought why stop there? Why not get as many groups together as we could to put on a show?” Comans said.
Comans said that they had contacts with a few different groups and comedians across the South, including the Stage Monkeys from Hattiesburg and performer Brad Bishop of Off Kilter in Jackson.
“That’s really where the alliance itself came from,” Comans said. “We knew the festival would be fun, but we wanted to establish a better way to communicate, to share resources, to build relationships, to just make comedy better across the South. And from there it expanded into Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.”
This year’s lineup will include many comedic groups from across the South such as Stage Monkeys and Pants Optional from Hattiesburg; Stranger, Are You Smiling? and West of Shake Rag from Tupelo; the Lab Rats from Starkville; Misfit Monkeys from Jackson; Longshot Theatre Group from Gulfport; and Cult of The Stage Monkey and new on the scene, Electoral College from Lafayette, Louisiana.
Actress Deenie Castleberry is a member of Misfit Monkeys and worked on iCarly, multiple reality shows and many other sitcoms. She has also worked with actors such as Ashton Kutcher and Jamie Kennedy.
“This is my second year at the festival,” Castleberry said. “I spent seven years in Los Angeles acting. I’ve been back in Mississippi for two years, and I’ve been working with the festival ever since I came back.”
“If you are a fan of comedy you can buy a single show ticket or a festival pass to see all the public performances,” Andrews said. “Each performance has a different theme. This is the third year the festival has been presented in Oxford and the 10th anniversary for the festival. It continues to grow each year with new performers, different celebrity instructors from comedy troupes from across the country.”
Tickets are available at the Powerhouse or online at oxfordarts.com and are $10 for the show and workshop and $15 for a day pass.
