The art of comedy: An event series pairs figure drawing with standup comedy
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On a summer evening, one after another, standup comedians take the mic in front of a group of artists in a brightly lit gallery.
“Good to say ‘Hello’ and look you all in the eye,” Alex Ngo says.
“This is a little jarring. You usually have brighter lights looking back at me, so I never have to see you.”
The artists sit with sketchpads and pencils. They begin to draw.
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“How long have I had this pose up?” Dru Nustad asks, holding up a prop — a vintage clock. “I feel like I’m planking right now. All right, all right, I’m switching up on you guys now. I’m going with Bad Posture Man.”
The crowd – of artists – laugh and look back down at their paper.
“I want everyone to draw me really sexy,” says Greg Orange. “Is that cool? I feel like it probably can't be that hard.”
Drawing laughs
This is Laugh and Draw, a quarterly event series that combines stand-up comedy and a figure drawing class.
Alicia Kismet is a comedian as well as an arts reporter and critic for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Along with, Michael Gaughan, an art instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, she started the series in 2024.
“I wanted to host a show, but not just like any comedy show, something that felt kind of more specific to my interest in visual art,” Kismet says.
"I had written an essay about can art make you laugh for Hyperallergic,” Kismet says, “so I was like, ‘How can I bring art and comedy together in real life?’”
Gaughan saw Kismet perform at an open mic and pitched the idea for Kismet to do standup for one his MCAD classes. Laugh and Draw was born.
Now, Kismet and Gaughan host the event in the basement gallery of the Q.arma Building, an art space in Northeast Minneapolis.
Each event costs $20 and provides drawing materials. Attendees do not have to be artists as Gaughan opens the event with a 15-minute drawing lesson.
“You could make one portrait of the comics,” Gaughan told the crowd at the July Laugh and Draw. “Or you can make multiple gesture drawings. You could maybe illustrate their jokes. Tonight’s a great opportunity to try a different drawing style, so if you have a certain vibe you usually go with, why not switch it up?”
Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it
A handful of local and regional comics perform at each session, with Kismet opening the show, offering advice on holding poses and keeping time.
The next Laugh and Draw is 7 p.m. Friday and will feature Devohn Bland, Comrade Tripp, Johanna Stark and Monica Coleslaw. There will be another one in December.
At the July event, Twin Cities comedian Nila Richards said it took a moment to get used to because she does crowd work.
“The crowd was interesting just because they’re focused on drawing, but I kind of forced them to get out of that,” Richards said. “I know how I am as a performer, and I need laughs, I need eye contact, I need all of that. So, I’m glad they participated.”
Minneapolis comedian Alexa Kocinski has performed at the event a few times.
“It’s weirdly more intimate than you can kind of imagine,” Kocinski said. Part of the fun is looking at the drawings after, Kocinski said.
“There were a couple of them that were really, that were really cute, and one of them, I looked like Ben Franklin,” Kocinski said. “I used that in a future joke, because I was like, ‘God, that really looks like me,’ and I saw myself in the mirror also and I was like, ‘Oh, they nailed it.’”
One of the artists that July night was Grover Hogan, who recently moved to Minneapolis.
“It was challenging because I’m used to looking at the performers as they’re performing, but this almost felt like listening to a comedy record or something; it felt more like I was at home, which was nice,” Hogan said.
Hogan said they grew up listening to nineties comedians with their parents.
“I’ve been trying to make it a point to get out there and see more comedy, because I like laughing in a crowd,” Hogan said.
“I also love drawing portraiture, so this is a perfect combination. “
