This Thursday marks the beginning of the Limestone Comedy Festival, a Bloomington-born three-day, multi-venue comedy festival which will run through Saturday.
It was created four years ago by Mat Alano-Martin and Jared Thompson and has become one of the biggest comedy festivals in a small city, bringing headliners comparable to those in bigger city festivals like Chicago and Pittsburgh.
Alano-Martin, festival founder and comedian, explained the thought process behind this comedy festival.
”I wanted to create a comedy festival that took the elements of festivals that I liked and avoided some of the things that fests do that I don’t like,” he said. “I also realized that with one of the best and most respected comedy clubs in the country here as an anchor we could not only do a comedy festival, but do one that was pretty special. So I pitched the idea to Jared at the Comedy Attic, thankfully he said yes, and we’ve been putting on the festival together ever since.”
Alano-Martin said the festival is comprised of 60 comedians from across the country and from all walks of life. He said having comics of different races, sexual identities and gender identities makes for a stronger line-up.
In addition to organizing the festival with the help of Thompson and a team of volunteers, Alano-Martin also performs during the festival.
“Performing at Limestone is always a little weird for me because I have to switch from event organizer brain, who is troubleshooting and answering questions and making sure everything is running smoothly to performer brain, which to perform well you have to be focused on what you’re doing,” he said.
Danielle McClelland, executive director of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, explained the private nonprofit, which operates the theater, BTC Management Inc., helped launch Alano-Martin’s idea by booking Tig Notaro as the festival’s initial headlining act. Currently, they continue to contribute by advising pricing, ticketing structure and functionality and production execution.
McClelland said the theater also benefited from the business brought in during the Limestone Comedy Festival.
“Comedy audiences tend to include a whole different set of people than concerts or theater, as well, so the festival adds to the diversity of our patrons,” she said.
Participating comedian DJ Dangler also had positive things to say about the audiences brought in by the festival. Dangler said the awesome crowds Bloomington provides are part of the reason he chose to perform here.
Dangler praised Alano-Martin and Thompson and said they have cultivated this audience into a scene, a club and a crew that is respected all over the country.
“I am not a friendly dude who says positive stuff,” he said. “I grouch and grumble about everything, but Limestone is pretty cool.”
