The Laughs Are Back:
Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest is Rolling Into Town for Sixth Year Straight
By Chaiel Schaffel
Show up on Circuit Avenue in early August and you’ll find that boisterous noise is quick to be found. In peals, guffaws, and giggles, it rolls from the open doors of The Lampost, a local watering hole. A return of laughter sweeping the Bluffs is the annual calling card of the Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest, returning this year for its sixth iteration. The brainchild of Steve Capers from Knock-Knock Productions in Chicago, the festival has gained enormous traction in the last five years.
As the dusk settles on August 8th, an all-star cast of nationally recognized comedians will be bringing their talents to Vineyard shores. These big names include headliner Damon Williams, who has toured the country and performed many elite comedy venues, including the legendary Showtime at the Apollo show and the Kings of Comedy Festival in Aspen, for a crowd of more than 300,000. For the past five years, the MVCF has pleased islanders and visitors alike, only gaining popularity and acclaim. With big time hosts like BET and HBO, the Fest is locally grown but nationally approved. The scene is distinctly African-American, as are all of the acts, but the humor is funny on a universal level no matter who you are. The acts each address the humor of living life in their own way and area, from relationship issues to the realities of race and ethnicity, to simply existing as a human and going about daily life. Other renowned acts include Tony Roberts, Rudy Rush, Gary “G. Thang” Johnson, Vanessa Fraction, Marvin Dixon and John Henton, all well respected and hilarious in their own right. Year after year, the Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest never fails to draw a happy crowd. This sixth season promises to make you return home clutching your sides and catching your breath. Turn up and witness history in the making.
