This April 1, there’s no fooling about what the center of the city’s comedy scene will be. Starting on the hijinx-filled date through April 6, The Crow at the Bergamot Station Arts Center hosts the Bergamot Comedy Festival, featuring performer showcases and free educational panels fronted by leaders in the comedy and entertainment industries. The week-long festival was a partnership between local, regional and national groups; including City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs, Santa Monica Travel and Tourism, the Los Angeles Times and MasterClass.
Crow VP of Communications Daphne Ruiz said the endeavor has "been a labor of love" and something they’ve "always kind of had in the back of our mind," something Crow Founder Nicole Blaine agreed with, particularly holding an event of this magnitude at Bergamot.
"I feel like this really hits with what Bergamot Station Arts Center was made to be," Blaine said. "It [is] supposed to be a collective of community, celebrating the arts, and there is supposed to be programming here that is free, that is vibrant, and that represents the voices from all the different walks of life … I feel really honored that I’m doing the work in my hometown, in a place that I grew up seeing art."
Blaine took inspiration for the festival by attending many of her own as a standup wanting to learn more about her trade. The panels, with subjects such as breaking into comedy clubs and how to write for late-night television, were curated with curious questions in mind, as Blaine wanted an environment to ask anything, even baseline questions that may be embarrassing to ponder otherwise.
"I think the majority of people in this industry are always of service, and they always want to help," Blaine added. "So everything with this festival is coming from the point of view of, what does a comic need to know …. equitable education, to me, is one of the most fabulous ways to jumpstart anyone’s career."
The industry veterans taking part in the festival range from showrunners like Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest creator Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, to writers like NBC’s Night Court scribe Mathew Harawitz. Late-night television expertise will be taught by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon creative consultant Michael Cox, who said the festival "is an excellent opportunity for not only comedians, but for the industry to scout."
Another high-profile guest is Andrew Reich, who served as executive producer on arguably comedy’s all-time greatest television hit, "Friends." Having friends in the industry has paid off for Blaine, and will also pay dividends for festival attendees.
"The coolest part about the entertainment community is it is a community, and when I react out to a top agent and say, would you be willing to speak and share you knowledge, they do," Blaine said. "They say yes, because … it’s going to make their job easier, because if they can connect with the up and coming artists, and tell them what they want, then they’re going to be able to give that [to] a network … there’s a mutually beneficial experience that comes out of all of this."
There will be no shortage of talent to pluck from, as the fest provides the opportunity for diverse perspectives to shine. The week’s lineup is 50% female and nonbinary identifying, aiming to cultivate an empathetic community via good humor. After the public panels in the early evening, showcases take place at The Crow featuring comedians such as Nina Nguyen, Haley Warren and Bee Gutierrez.
Blaine stated she opened The Crow to find out how to participate in "society moving forward with using storytelling," and believes she found 50 worthy comedians that will "make it better" for the next generation of women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.
"The truth is that storytelling is still one of the most powerful ways to serve social justice, and when we get those diverse points of view on [big platforms] … [people] all of a sudden understand the perspective of someone who is clear and artistic and has [had] crimes [committed] against them for gender and sexuality, and you all of a sudden care about them because the storytelling is so profound," Blaine said.
Along with the panels and showcases, the festival also includes private perks for ticket holders, including group yoga, group tarot reading and more in-depth panel discussions. The April 1 opening night also has the "Tomorrow’s Ladies of Late Night" finalist showcase and an opening party. April 5 is "mental health day" sponsored by Comedy Gives Back, with the day’s private perk being meditation and mental health programming.
The festival was made possible in part with support from Art of Recovery, a Cultural Affairs initiative, a show of solidarity between Santa Monica government and Bergamot. In a February meeting of Santa Monica City Council, councilmembers voted unanimously to create an economic support program for the center, and much of the public made their voices heard in supporting Bergamot.
"It was really, really touching," Ruiz said. "It was amazing to see the community come out and support and really see the value of having a community-centric art space. If the community hadn’t come out and supported that, who knows what they would have turned that space into. Instead of only looking toward commercially viable spaces, [this is] really making that [safe space] for art galleries and art spaces such as ours."
General admission tickets for showcases are $20, with a $45 VIP ticket including a 1-year subscription to MasterClass. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit their website.
