DNA’s comedy festival is like a competition—with no prize
Andrew Norelli is wandering the stage of the dimly lit Blue Lagoon.
There aren’t 50 people in the audience for this Tuesday night set in March 2013, but the comedian has us lucky few audience members bending out of our chairs laughing—our heads dangerously close the Blue’s icky floor.
And Norelli, who will return this Friday for the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival, has an epiphany as ’80s music blares in the background—which was supposed to be his cue to get the heck offstage. He’s not ready to leave. These moments onstage, he says, are the only time of day when his mind slows to a normal pace, and he’s able to relax.
That kind of addiction among comics is not uncommon. Nor are the art’s calming effects for those onstage—especially among seasoned pros like Norelli, who perform long sets.
What’s even more common for comics, though, explains comedy promoter DNA (who’s organizing the eight-venue Santa Cruz festival), is the way they enter a different realm when they perform.
“Comedians—when they’re in the zone, space and time are irrelevant,” DNA says.
And while onstage, DNA adds, many comics have no sense of how they’re being received. After killing a five-minute set at an open mic, a comic might walk offstage and ask, “How’d I do?”
The new festival will bring to downtown Santa Cruz great comedians of all types and levels—local and traveling, amateur and professional.
DNA has gathered comics like America’s Got Talent’s Kellen Erskine, who practically tore the house down with laughter at two different Planet Cruz shows at the Rio. Another performer Matt Lieb, a UCSC grad, won the 2013 Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Competition in Sunnyvale. His five-minute bit consisting of reading the most common Google searches starting with the words “How come” from his phone has become a Bay Area open mic favorite.
Santa Cruz native Brendan Lynch, who appeared on Comedy Central last month, will also perform, as will Brooklyn comedian Jabari Davis, who’s flying in for the show. As for Norelli, he made his second appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman last month.
Comics will bounce throughout the night between venues—joints like Streetlight Records, the Poet and the Patriot, and Surf City Billiards. The nine headliners will also perform at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, where tickets will are $20.
“I’ve waited 10 years to get to know enough people in this town and feel like I’m part of Santa Cruz to create something,” DNA says. “This festival is an inclusive festival, and I want it to be unique, not just for the fans, but for the comedians. The idea of comedians running from one show to another—a brisk walk—is like of The Amazing Race. But there’s no prize.”
The Stand Up Comedy Festival’s main event is at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz. Tickets are $20/online. $25/door. For the full lineup visit, www.standupsantacruz.com.
