“We just take comedy really seriously,” says Chris Trew, Creative Director of the New Movement Theater and curator of a fresh, new event he calls “Hell Yes Fest!” With this paradoxical statement, the New Orleans native comedian refers to the carefully crafted itinerary of improv, standup, and sketch acts he and his team have organized to deliver to New Orleans in this festival-style marathon starting Wednesday, November 9.
Pulling from all categories of the entertainment guide pyramid, New Orleans is never lacking in extended bashes celebrating music, food, crafts, and art, but Hell Yes Fest!, a four-day comedy event, brings a new kind of festival to New Orleans that presents an untapped category. After a successful debut in Austin in April, the festival now comes to New Orleans to showcase a stream of performances by both visiting and local comedians and comedy troupes at Republic, the Shadowbox Theatre, the Hi-Ho Lounge and the recently-opened Café Istanbul in the New Orleans Healing Center.
“We just thought it would be fun to do our own [festival],” Trew says, “and to do all the things that we wish were already happening at comedy festivals, making better all the things we thought [they] were lacking.”
The comedy crew’s first step was changing the process of selection. “All of our favorite festivals—from Jazz Fest to Voodoo to Austin City Limits—are specifically curated,” says Trew, but “comedy festivals are notorious for charging money to submit to their festivals and becoming big moneymakers for people putting them on,” he explains, “and that’s something we always thought was kind of lame.”
Trew and the New Movement team set out to mine the field of comedy acts in Austin, Houston, New York, Chicago and New Orleans and personally recruit over 50 comedians they saw as fit for the festival.
“Hell Yes Fest! is and will always be a celebration of the locals who are working hard and doing good work, a celebration of our brothers and sisters in our Austin and Houston locations and vice versa for those festivals,” Trew says, “and a celebration of people who are doing badass stuff in other parts of country who we want to invite and show how awesome New Orleans is.”
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Some featured invitees that Trew is especially enthusiastic about are the witty Moshe Kasher, Laughter Against the Machine, and Whirled News Tonight. Kasher, from Los Angeles, was selected as iTunes’ “Best New Comedian of 2009” and will headline the festival on opening night at Republic, Wednesday, November 9. Laughter Against the Machine is a trio of comedians in the process of producing a documentary in which they traverse U.S. cities facing political corruption and other controversies and use their comedic gifts to satirize the issues. The group will perform standup at Café Istanbul in the New Orleans Healing Center on Friday night. Whirled News Tonight, another politically satirical comedy group, uses newspaper headlines for their improvisation. Popular in Chicago, where they perform each weekend at one of the biggest improv theatres in the country, the troupe will perform for the first time in New Orleans on Saturday night at the Shadowbox Theatre.
Local comedians and comic groups to appear at Hell Yes Fest! include Scotland Green, Cassidy Henehan, Stupid Time Machine, and the Filmores, among others who will perform Thursday night in an “Improv Mini-Marathon.” The Hi-Ho Lounge will host an afterparty to follow, with a “Battle Rap Royale” where members of the public can throw rhyming punches of farce to achieve poetic quipster glory.
“We’re here to show off our city, we’re here to show off the growing comedy scene, and we also want New Orleanians to know that we are determined to make this city a hotspot for comedy,” says Trew. “New Orleans clearly responds well to massive celebrations, and that’s what we are good at. I was born and raised here, so I understand what it means to truly throw a party.”
Hell Yes Fest! day passes for each festival venue can be purchased online for just $10, while the more avid comedy consumer can purchase a “Badass Pass,” for entry to all events, including priority seating and a ticket to Thursday night’s afterparty. See the schedule of performances below.
Wednesday, November 9
Republic, 8 p.m.: Dane Faucheaux (New Orleans) + Chris Trew (Austin/New Orleans) + Moshe Kasher (Los Angeles)
Thursday, November 10
The Shadowbox Theatre: Improv Mini-Marathon
7 p.m.: Level 2 Recital + The Filmores (New Orleans) + Awkward Headbutt (New Orleans) + Claws with Fangs (New Orleans)
8:30 p.m.: Disco Box (Austin) + Stupid Time Machine (New Orleans) + Laser Heart (Austin)
9:30 p.m.: Chris and Tami (Austin/New Orleans) + Dance Crisis (New Orleans) + A-Train (Chicago)
Friday, November 11
The Shadowbox Theatre
8 p.m.: The New Movement Houston + Boy Butter (NYC)
9:30 p.m.: 9:30 The New Movement Austin + Sears Tower (Chicago)
Cafe Istanbul
9 p.m.: Cyrus/Drew (New Orleans) + Personality Plus (New Orleans) + High-5 Boys (New Orleans) + Lucas Bros (NYC) + Zach & Zach (NYC) + Karl Hess (L.A.)
10:30 p.m.: Laughter Against the Machine
Hi-Ho Lounge, midnight: Battle Rap Royal Afterparty
Saturday, November 12
The Shadowbox Theatre
8 p.m.: Spirit Desire (Austin) + Tesla (NYC)
9:30 p.m.: Handbomb (Austin) + Whirled News Tonight (Chicago)
Cafe Istanbul
9 p.m.: Shawn Dugas (New Orleans, NYC) + Rob Gagnon (Austin) + CJ Hunt (New Orleans) + Leon Blanda (New Orleans) + Scotland Green (New Orleans) + Vacation Jason (Bahamas) + Zach Broussard (NYC)
10:30 pm.: Cassidy Henehan (New Orleans) + Neal Stastny (NYC) + Kath Barbadaro (Austin) + Sean Patton (NYC)
