They say everyone is a comedian. Many professional ones will be passing through Bentonville Oct. 2-5, when the Big Diamond Comedy Festival opens in Bentonville.

Organizer Raj Suresh said that initial interest in the festival was huge with around 400 submissions from funny people across the country, plus a few from Australia, looking for a spot opening for headliners Kam Patterson, Heather Shaw, Geoff Asmus, Sean Patton, Shane Mauss, Mary Santora, Libbie Higgins and Tina Dybal, Zahid Dewji and Kyle Kinae.

“You’re essentially viewing the top (percentage) of people that got into the festival this year,” said Suresh, who organized the festival with comedian friends Sam Tallent and “mastermind” Kazie Sparkman, a manager for the Comedy Cellar in New York.

The weekend includes a mix of stand-up shows, a comedy and professional wrestling showcase, two festival showcases featuring a blend of the comedians in town for the festival and two local comedian showcases. The weekend will feature 68 different comedians.

“We wanted to create a festival that other comics would enjoy,” said Suresh, who started doing stand-up 10 years ago thanks to a bit of liquid courage.

Suresh said he hopes people will also check out headliners from TV like Sean Patton who is starring on the FX show, “English Teacher,” and Zahid Dewji who has served as a writer for Jimmy Fallon.

Many of the comedians have regular spots on radio, like Suresh with spots from his 2023 special “Break The Leg.”

He said that he feels like Bentonville is a good spot for the festival being in the middle of the country with lots of hidden gems for entertainment.

“There’s a lot of cool, little fun things that I don’t think people are aware of nationally,” Suresh said, like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the mountain bike trails.

In fact, headliner Kyle Kinae scheduled at couple of extra days around his Saturday night show at Meteor Guitar Gallery to hit the trails.

“As an avid mountain biker, I kind of made it a destination to go to for myself,” Kinae said. The last time he was in town was in June of 2021. “Of course, it was a heat wave in the middle of summer, so it wasn’t ideal, but still, I got a great sample of what’s there.”

Kinae has appeared on Conan, The Tonight Show, Netflix’s “The Stand-ups,” and has three of his own specials on Comedy Central, where he also served as “the voice” for eight years. Just last year, Kinae released an album, “Dirt Nap,” on all streaming services.

Like Suresh, headliner Heather Shaw got into doing stand-up comedy more than a decade ago. And though she may look like Jim Carrey, she’s not coming to town to impersonate him. During the pandemic, she decided to play around with her resemblance to Carrey by joking that she was his long lost daughter on TikTok.

“It worked a little too well,” Shaw said. “I just had to turn around be like, ‘Just kidding!’”

The attention has helped her career, she said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a comedian, which is ironic, you know, because somebody already has this face,” she joked. “I’d never incorporated looking like Jim Carrey or any Jim Carrey stuff, until TikTok. But people would always tell me after my shows. … I heard it my whole life, but I never wanted to be an impressionist.”

Shaw has been featured on The Today Show and The Tamron Hall Show, and has worked with comics such as Mark Normand, Eric Andre and Fortune Feimster, according to her website. Her 9 p.m. Oct. 3 show at Bentonville Brewing is sold out, so she added a 7 p.m. slot for those who are still looking for tickets.

The comedian is also working on a mini-special for YouTube and has a weekly podcast, Heather Shaw is Kidding.

Suresh said that general admission and VIP passes get attendees into every show at the Big Diamond Comedy Festival, but tickets can be purchased for individual shows that aren’t already sold out. Find ticket links and more details about each show at bigdiamondcomedyfestival.com. More shows may be added for outdoors, weather permitting.

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FAQ

Big Diamond Comedy Festival

WHAT — A multi-day comedy festival created by comedians Sam Tallent and Raj Suresh featuring performances by Kam Patterson, Heather Shaw, Geoff Asmus, Sean Patton, Shane Mauss, Mary Santora, Libbie Higgins and Tina Dybal, Zahid Dewji and Kyle Kinae. Plus Sam Tallent’s Comedy & Wrestling Circus and other special showcases.

WHEN — Oct. 2-5

WHERE — Bentonville Brewing, Meteor Guitar Gallery, Danger Dave’s, etc. in Bentonville

TICKETS —$170 for GA 3-day pass; $235 for VIP 3-day pass; individual tickets available for shows for most shows and run $8-$30.

INFO — bigdiamondcomedyfestival.com