Courtesy Photo
Rodeo Book Club are among the hometown heroes that will be representing the local comedy scene among the national acts coming to town for the fest.
At this rate, 2016 in Fayetteville will soon be heralded as the year of the first-annual festivals.
In an effort to highlight the growing and promising comedy scene in Fayetteville, the brand new Huge Lightning Comedy Festival is hosting comedians, long and short-form improvisers, writers, musicians and general funny people for a two-night, four-event comedy extravaganza.
Huge Lightning is happening Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7, at The pAth Outfitters, behind Tiny Tim’s Pizza and across from Jammin’ Java on the Fayetteville downtown square at 21 W. Mountain St. Shows will run from 7 to 11 p.m. each night, and audiences will be able to purchase wristbands for specific two-hour time-slots, either 7 to 9 p.m. or 9 to 11 p.m. for $10 each, or a four-hour “all night” wristband for $15. The venue holds about 80 people. Tickets can be bought at hugelightning.com.
During the performances, there will be $1 bags of popcorn sold, and local brewers Fossil Cove and Core will be doing a suggested donation bar.
The shows will feature a combination of local talent and groups and 35 out-of-town performers from Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Many improvisers present will have performance experience and training from Second City improv school in Chicago and New York. A couple local groups such as Rodeo Book Club, Phunbags, UofA’s Laugh Track and Field, The Mr. Palooka Boat Show and Ft. Smith’s Naturally Improvable.
Long-form improv, pictured here from performers going to be at Huge Lightning Comedy Festival, is a series of scenes that are made up on the spot by the performers based on a random suggestion from the audience.
Much of the festival will consist of long-form improv comedy. Essentially, long-form is a series of scenes that are made up on the spot by the performers based on a random suggestion from the audience. The entirety of the improvised “play” depends on the chemistry, imagination and quick wit of the performers involved, which leads to one-of-a-kind performances and hilarious, occasionally awkward moments.
Each night will feature a performance of ROUGHHOUSE! that features a mix of improv comedy from a mix of performers, music, spoken word and an improvised painting. The production happens monthly at The Backspace in Fayetteville for free.
Jordan Haynes, co-creator of the festival, said he got the idea for the festival upon returning to Fayetteville after living in Chicago and noticing the potential in the local comedy scene. He said he hopes the festival will act as a spotlight and a catalyst for the Northwest Arkansas comedy scene.
“There’s a growing scene of stand up comedians now who perform at stand up mic night at Ryleighs, and there are people here who are willing to collaborate and do fun stuff. I think it reflects the town well,” Haynes said. “We’re only scratching the surface now of where it’s going to go. We’re fortunate to have a hyper creative and supportive community.”
Ten years ago, Arkansas didn’t have any long-form improv comedy or much of a stand up scene, said Thomas Hunter, a Rodeo Book Club performer.
Courtesy Photo
Torque, a long-form improv comedy troupe from Playground Theater in Chicago, will be performing at Fayetteville’s new Huge Lightning Comedy Festival, May 6 and May 7.
“It’s pretty crazy, there’s so many stand ups here now,” Hunter said. “There’s three different improv groups in town. I think it’s exciting, and it’s cool that we live in a town that wants to see live theater and entertainment. You don’t see that in a whole lot of towns. I’m pretty sure there’s more here than there is in Little Rock or any other part of the state. That’s something we need to improve upon.”
Craig Tommey, a former El Dorado, Ark. resident and current Chicagoan, will be performing alongside fellow Improv Olympic colleagues in his group Morning Gents.
“The most exciting thing for me is these are all top tier performers,” Tommey said. “We’ve been in Chicago cutting it for seven to eight years, mostly performing for other performers. You don’t normally get the kind of energy you get from performing for people who haven’t seen a live improv group before. It will be great for us to introduce that to new people. Most importantly, it’s just a bunch of fun and goofing off.”
Charles Pettitt, a touring Second City performer, will be performing a bit of solo sketch comedy as well as group improv. A longtime friend of Haynes, Pettitt said he’s looking forward to returning to the “storybook picturesque” Fayetteville to perform.
“One of the things that I love about live performance is that element of surprise, especially in a comedy show, it’s hard to get that in TV or YouTube,” he said. “You’re experiencing it all together. It’s something I love about performing and comedy.”
For more information about the Huge Lightning festival and its lineup, visit hugelightning.com.
