Boston residents who believe that laughter is the best medicine might want to get ahead of the inevitable autumn sniffles by heading to Cambridge for the fourth annual Boston Comedy Arts Festival, formerly the Boston Improv Festival.
The comedy collaboration kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday.
Formerly the Boston Improv Festival, the event has renamed itself the Boston Comedy Arts Festival, since its scope now includes improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy and it aims to showcase all comedic arts.
Last year’s festival included over 90 improv, sketch, and stand-up acts from all over North America, and hosted 3,500 attendees. This year’s festival will feature comedy acts from around the world and will be held in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary of ImprovBoston.
The series begins tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the ImprovBoston Main Theater in Cambridge, and continues every night through Sunday, with shows at the main theater, as well as ImprovBoston Studio, and the Brattle Theatre. Tickets range from $14 to $25, and are available online.
Performers include the Cambridge Footlights, the Crime Solving Bear, Bastards Inc., Casual Sex Offenders, and dozens more.
Can you learn to be funny?
Saturday and Sunday will also feature a variety of comedy workshops, for
comedians-in-training. The first workshop of the weekend, “RISK!
Storytelling with Kevin Allison,” will be held at 10 a.m. at the
ImprovBoston Main Theater. The two-and-a-half hour course will put ha-ha
hopefuls back $45, but will teach the skills needed to tell a funny
story.
