New York City's second annual Underground Comedy Festival ran from October 4th to 10th, and attracted crowds in all of the five boroughs, from the Arthur Seelen Theatre to the Zodiac Café.
With 300 comedians in 114 shows in 50 venues, the festival attracted 15,000-20,000 fans. Some of the shows were broadcast on XM satellite radio.
To accommodate fans who couldn't travel or spend much money, festival organizer George Sarris put 22 free shows in public libraries.
"We're about helping emerging talent, not about lining our pockets," Sarris said. "Comedy is about being put up in small little venues,… not in Carnegie Hall."
Sarris created the festival by taking aspects that he liked in other comedy festivals.
Comedian Jim Mendrinos, who helped Sarris run the festival, said "I look for obviously a good (comedy) room, a well balanced room, a room with a reputation for the type of show that we're thinking of putting in there. We wanted to make it very inclusive."
Of the 3000 comedians who submitted audition tapes, about 225 were picked to do shows.
Mendrinos, who helped to review the tapes, advised comedians to "make sure the tape is not only good, but good quality. Some of those tapes… were grainy, you couldn't hear the sound, you couldn't see the person on stage."
"Just because we didn't book you doesn't mean you weren't good," he added. "The festival is about creating opportunity for comics. For the most part, we did that."
Comedian Sasha Guillaume said that one of the keys to the festival is befriending other performers. "I'm taking more of an opportunity to network with comedians," he said. "It's great exposure. Most of your work is going to come from other comedians, so therefore they get to see you, see that you're talented enough."
Veronica Mosey, another comedian, concurred. "You get a stack of business cards and bring them with you and hand them out and try to meet people," she said. "It's more of an opportunity for comics to network than to perform. It's more about being around a bunch of people, the whole festival atmosphere."
"One of the things the festival is really intent on is raising money for Operation Uplink," Mendrinos said. "Operation Uplink buys phone cards for soldiers stationed overseas to call home. For a lot of them, it's a choice between providing for their families, and calling their families and telling them they're alive."
You can also e-mail Jerry L. Kahn at jerry@thecomical.com or visit him at www.BorderingOnTheRidiculous.com.
