There’s something sketchy happening in the DC area later this month.
The first DC Sketchfest brings 22 sketch comedy groups, including six from the DMV, to DC Improv and the DC Art Center starting March 20.
Andy Weld, one of the producers of DC Sketchfest, says the festival has been a long time coming. As a writer, actor, and director in the troupe Bad Medicine, he’s performed in sketch comedy festivals from San Francisco to Philadelphia, and with fellow performers/producers Rails Comedy. “We wanted to put on a festival that we felt like was on par with the best festivals that we’ve been to, and really show that, DC and the DMV have a thriving sketch comedy community,” he says.
That meant listing the things they liked and didn’t like about the sketch comedy festivals they’d been to.
“One of the things that is really great about sketch comedy is the community,” Weld says. “Sketch comedy is a collaborative art form for the most part.” Their favorite festivals play up the community aspect onstage and offstage, giving troupes a chance to see each other’s work and interact with the public, including through community classes.
Too many festivals, Weld says, can feel “very siloed. You show up, you do your set, and then there’s not an opportunity to spend time with other groups. Not that things need to be totally pre-arranged, but it’s nice when there’s a bar that you know everyone is going to afterward, or some kind of get-together where you can do that community building.”
Weld also emphasizes the diversity of the performers. “Well over half the groups that are going to be at DC Sketchfest have members that identify as part of the LGBTQ community. So we’re really excited about that. But we also wanted to make sure that we had a lot of geographic diversity. So we have multiple groups from Canada, New York, Seattle, Chicago, North Carolina, Baltimore, Boston.”
Diversity makes comedy more meaningful — and funnier, Weld says.
“A diversity of voices means a diversity of perspectives, which means more opportunity to see new things, laugh in new ways, and really enjoy something unexpected.
“It is a great way to bond—you could sit in a room with people who look and sound nothing like you, and you can see something funny, hear something funny, and you’re instantly bonded by that laughter because you’re all enjoying the same thing together.”
The festival also serves as a comeback for sketch comedy after the worst of the pandemic. Weld says sketch comedy was particularly hard-hit by the shutdown of live entertainment — a standup comic can write jokes and perform them for a video screen but when Bad Medicine tried to do a few online shows, “We realized pretty quickly that we didn’t enjoy that very much. … It just feels like you’re telling jokes into the abyss, which just doesn’t spark the joy for me.”
The festival begins Wednesday, March 20, with two free shows at the DC Arts Center in Adams Morgan. “We really want an opportunity for anyone in the community, regardless of means,” to be able to come out and see some really exciting sketch comedy, Weld says.
It continues at DC Improv, on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest DC, with shows March 21–23. You can get tickets (which you need, even for the free shows) through the DC Sketchfest website.
Featured image courtesy DC Sketchfest
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