The weekend of Oct. 16 introduced something to the city of Madison that we have never been exposed to before: a Comedy Festival.  The Madison Comedy Festival was advertised with several main headliner-names.  To list a few, there was: Margaret Cho, Nick Offerman (from Parks and Recreation), and Pete Holmes. With the semester at a crucial, lingering point for a majority of students during the month of October, the Comedy Festival came to Madison at exactly the right time.

Adding to the phenomenal timing was the wonderful prices; some venues sold tickets for as low as $5 to students showing a school ID.  The accumulation of these two components was shown with compassion, and charisma when walking in-between to shows, and while waiting for a show to start.

The atmosphere amongst State Street was filled with friendship and booze. Yes, that’s right, synchronization.

It’s a wonderful feeling to leave the chaotic mind of a college student for two hours and just laugh at funny observations said by professional comedians.  Or, to not get the frantic feeling that you need to write down everything the comedian is stating, because (brace yourself) you’re not in class!  This is not to say that all the comedians were funny, and up to par.

Pete Holmes began and finished his act flawlessly.  He didn’t alienate, nor prosecute any of the members of the audience.  The following night, I attended the live recording of his Podcast, “You Made it Weird.”  After confessing to my table that I never listened to this Podcast before, I was kindly brought up to speed by a fan from Minnesota.

After the theme music played for “You Made it Weird,” Pete Holmes opened the show by giving the control to the audience: we were able to ask him questions.  The expansion of allowing the ticket-buyers’ a voice was thrilling to witness and hear; many fans took advantage of this, including three of my tablemates.

Along the way, three other comedians joined Holmes onstage: Isaac Witty, Chad Daniels, and Kevin Bozeman.  While the four comedians adjusted to regain a groove with the progressively slow addition of one after another within a twenty-minute period, the audience didn’t stumble one bit.

However, it began to get more offensive when the last comic, Kevin Bozeman came on stage.  Drunk and pissed off, the subject of rape was brought up along with other details I’d rather not mention.  It was during this time that I began to understand why hecklers heckle.

My last stop in the tour of the (first annual) Madison Comedy Festival was comedian Chris D’Elia.  He did what he was supposed to do: made jokes about women, continuously.  As an audience member, I did what was expected of me: stay silent.  The Orpheum was nowhere near packed to see D’Elia, compared to Pete Holmes’ show at The Majestic, where the auditorium was filled with people and laughter.

All in all, the Madison Comedy Festival was thrilling and exciting.  The streets surrounding this weekend-long event were low-key, with the smell of fall in the air.  Friends clung to each other, laughing while ordering another beer.  This type of weekend produced something I hadn’t felt in a long time: tranquility.