Everyone could probably use a dose of “the best medicine,” in these times.
“I just think it’s important to bring laughter to a community,” Moscow Comedy Fest co-founder Mike O’Brien said. “We need more laughter in the world today.”
This year’s festival starts tonight and continues through Saturday at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre. There’s a different lineup each night, and festival passes that include all shows are available for $80. Individual show prices range from $25-$35.
“We do get a diverse group, and we try to pick comedians that talk about different subject matters,” O’Brien said. “One show can be completely different from the next show.”
This is no roll-of-the-dice open mic night: All of the festival’s comedians, he explained, are seasoned headliners with late night TV credits.
“A lot of them have their own comedy specials on Netflix and YouTube,” he said, noting those platforms are good places to preview their acts.
There’s no official minimum age for the shows, but O’Brien suggested they’re best for those 18 and older, noting there are no restrictions on what the comedians can talk about.
Younger teens can attend, if their parents are comfortable with them hearing adult content.
“I kind of treat it like a rated R movie,” he said.
After-parties following each night’s performance are at area bars, for those 21 and older only.
O’Brien started organizing shows in 2012 in Coeur d’Alene with Moscow Comedy co-founder Alvin Williams, a touring comic who will host Friday’s show. A couple of years later, he moved to the Palouse, where he’s general manager of Moscow’s Best Western University Inn, home to Moscow Comedy’s quarterly shows. Those shows, he said, typically sell out two to four weeks in advance.
O’Brien and Williams started planning their first comedy festival in 2019, just before COVID-19 shut down such gatherings.
“We wanted to grow and kind of expand on that popularity that we’ve experienced at our regular comedy night shows,” O’Brien said.
The first Moscow Comedy Fest, with Brian Regan as headliner, finally happened in 2022.
This year’s festival features a lineup never before seen in Moscow: O’Brien said he tries not to schedule repeat comics.
Caitlyn Houser
Brandon Vestal performs at a past Moscow Comedy Fest show at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre.
“All these comedians are actually brand new to me,” he said.
He and Williams vet the comedians they book, O’Brien explained, ensuring audiences are getting a full evening of laughs.
It’s easy to be funny for 60 seconds on TikTok, he said, but “that doesn’t translate to performing for 45 minutes straight in front of a live audience.”
O’Brien said he hopes die-hard comedy fans and newbies both will show up for some sustained laughs, whether they check out a single show or take in the whole festival.
“I just want everybody to come,” he said.
Stone (she/her) can be reached at mstone@inland360.com.
Moscow Comedy Fest
What: Three-night festival with different comedians at each show.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 29-31.
Where: Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, 508 S. Main St.
Tickets: $80 all-festival pass, $25 Thursday, $30 Friday, $35 Saturday at moscow comedyfest.com.
Of note: Among the comedians performing are Australian Sarah Lawrence, whose work can be seen on Amazon Prime; Simon King, featured on HBO; Cory Michaelis, of Dry Bar Comedy; and Lara Beitz, who has appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and Comedy Central. Full lineup is at moscowcomedy.com.
After-parties (21+) are at the Kenworthy’s Backstage tonight, Hunga Dunga Brewery on Friday and The Garden Lounge on Saturday.
