Comedy takes over Minneapolis stages for 10,000 Laughs festival
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The 12th annual 10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival starts Thursday on stages across Minneapolis.
Local comedian Bryan Miller says it’s grown to be one of the largest comedy festivals in the country.
“It started off as a tiny little festival that was just local comics in one room for a weekend,” Miller says. “Now there’s 80 comedians in town to do 30 shows across all these different venues.”
Miller has been involved with the festival since the beginning at the Comedy Corner Underground, a club in downtown Minneapolis. He says it’s still the festival headquarters where comics hang out.
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“That’s a little 80-seater basement room that is just like exactly where comedy’s supposed to live,” Miller says. “The laughs just bounce around the room and everyone's packed in nice and tight.”
The festival has expanded to venues across the city, including Pantages Theatre, First Avenue, Parkway Theater, Sisyphus Brewing and Theatre in the Round. This year’s national headliners include David Cross, Ali Macofsky, Rory Scovel, Mike E. Winfield, Katherine Blanford and Pete Holmes.
But Miller says don’t miss rising local talent, including Ellie Hino, Pearl Rose, Tommy Ryman, Jeff Pfoser and Chris Maddock.
“We have one of the biggest comedy scenes in the country, without a doubt,” Miller says. “Comedy started here in the 80s pretty early on.”
He points to the former northeast Minneapolis bar Mickey Finn’s, where the likes of Louie Anderson and Wild Bill Bauer performed.
“The scene has just always been good and once it took off, there’s always been multiple clubs in town,” Miller says. “Minneapolis and St. Paul have always been a pretty significant hub for comedy in the Midwest, so it’s really fitting that one of the big festivals is here.”
10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival runs through Saturday night.
