Memphis Comedy Festival Wrap-Up

by Matt Ward
I got the opportunity to perform this past weekend at the Memphis Comedy Festival put on by the Memphis Roast Club.  The show I did was on Saturday Night at TheatreWorks in Downtown Memphis.  Shows had been going on all week include improv, a locals stand-up showcase, the Saturday night marathon showcase that I was a part of and Podcast Sunday.

The Venue: TheatreWorks

Chad Riden Closes out the Marathon Stand-Up Showcase

TheatreWorks is located close to where the Loony Bin (and Comedy Zone before that) used to be in Memphis (back when the city had a full time comedy club, currently they do not).  The area is growing and a lot of building construction seemed to be present within a short distance to the Theatre.  A large parking garage was being built right across the street which is typical of plans for a developing area.  The venue accommodated around 100 in bleacher style seating.  The stage was a large open space buffered with stage curtains.  There were separate entrances for performers and audience members making it easy to slip in and out to watch other comics sets.

Jason Folks lies on the floor mid-podcast at the Memphis
Comedy Festival Podcast Day

Podcast Sunday
Throughout the evening on Saturday and early on Sunday Podcasting was going on at TheatreWorks. MemNash Radio with Hawk and The Beard was recording a marathon podcas to go with the marathon stand-up showcase.  I popped in briefly and recorded a few soundbytes.  In addition, roving around were John and Jancice from the Bare Bones Podcast. 


Summary
I got to meet some great people including Sammy Marten, former owner of Comedy Tennessee, the last full time comedy club in Memphis. I enjoyed myself and the crowd they put me in front of was almost a sell out.  Can't ask for much more from a smaller comedy festival in their second year.  I look forward to seeing the festival grow as the years go on!