Bringing the laughs
Williamsburg hosting first 4-day comedy festival
WILLIAMSBURG — If a comedian from Hampton Roads gets to perform with a counterpart from Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, it usually involves a trip to the big city.
Not this time.
Next week, Williamsburg will host its inaugural Last Word Comedy Festival, a four-day event featuring 50 acts and 150 performers from around the country. Organizers hope it will become an annual tradition. The festival, sponsored by the city of Williamsburg and produced by local company AVAdventure Productions, will have ticketed headliner shows, improv showcases and four free stand-up showcases that include comedians from throughout Hampton Roads.
Local comics were selected from audition videos submitted last fall.
“Everyone is coming to us, so this is our chance to really show up,” said Jamarcus “Jmarc” Perry, a Williamsburg comedian set to perform on Jan. 26. “I’m excited to show everything that we can do right here.”
Shows will take place at four venues: Precarious Beer Project on South Henry Street; Culture Cafe; Williamsburg Regional Library on Scotland Street; and the Williamsburg Community Building on North Boundary Street — to be renamed The Last Word Theater for the weekend.
The festival will kick off Thursday evening with a College Improv Showcase, highlighting groups from William &
Mary, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University and the University of South Carolina.
Friday and Saturday’s calendars are full of headlining acts, improv and stand-up showcases, while Sunday offers an 11 a.m. musical improv brunch featuring RIFF, a high-energy group from Chicago.
“It feels like the start of something exciting,” said Adam Stackhouse, an event producer with
AVAdventure. “The Williamsburg winter can be a little quiet, a little cold, a little blue, and this is all completely designed to bring smiles and joy.”
Two of the festival’s headliners, “Clued In” (an improvised murder mystery) and “Hitch*Cocktails” (a crime thriller in the style of Alfred Hitchcock), hail from Chicago and regularly sell out prominent venues such as Second City. “Clued In” has already sold out, according to the festival’s website.
Another Chicago-based group, Improvised Jane Austen, crafts original stories in the style of the famous 19th-century author. The Layman is a group of from the New York City comedy stage; Orange Tuxedo, a husband-wife improv team from Los Angeles, features William & Mary graduate Craig Cackowski.
C.J. Tuor, artistic director for High Stakes Productions in Chicago, hasn’t been to Williamsburg since his parents brought him on a vacation as a child. High Stakes produces both “Clued In” and “Hitch*Cocktails.”
“Festivals are a great chance
“Everyone is coming to us, so this is our chance to really show up. I’m excited to show everything that we can do right here.” — Jamarcus “Jmarc” Perry, left, a Williamsburg comedian set to perform on Jan. 26.
to see what our peers in different parts of the country are doing,” Tuor said. “Arts can have really unique styles and flavors depending on where you are. And the more diversity we have in comedy, the better for inspiring people to try it or support it.”
Perry, 32, is an Air Force veteran, youth sports coach, actor and owner of an entertainment business. His comedy focuses on common experiences such as parenthood, marriage and work challenges. (Sample line: “Being married implies you can be honest … it does not guarantee it will be well received. Be safe, fellas.”)
“I go up with the intention of having fun along with the crowd,” Perry said. “If I give out good energy, I usually get it back and it becomes a cycle that keeps building.”
Goodman, a 40-year-old
Navy veteran who builds large mining trucks at Liebherr, describes himself as “unabashedly patriotic” in his sets that touch on his upbringing with a Cuban biological father and a Jewish stepfather.
“I talk about culture and religion because I think comedy can educate and unite people,” he said. “It can break down barriers.”
Stackhouse is eager to see how the area will respond to a new form of comedy programming.
“Laughter,” he said, “is always a good thing.”
IF YOU GO
When: Thursday through Sunday.
Where: Various locations Tickets: Online, $12 plus fees; $15 plus fees at the door; free for stand-up showcases at Precarious Beer Project.
Details: lastwordfestival. com