Small Island, Big Laughs: The Nantucket Comedy Festival Returns

The Nantucket Comedy Festival kicks off this week, with profits going to support the festival’s educational program, Stand Up and Learn.

“We have a great lineup this year, a bunch of great comedians,” Nantucket Comedy Festival Executive Director Kevin Flynn told the Current.

The festival opens on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Dreamland with its annual Women’s Night of Comedy event, featuring a number of successful female comedians, including “America’s Got Talent” finalist Gina Brillon, Ariel Elias, and Mia Jackson. The next night, at the same time in the same venue, is a night of Canadian comedy starring Aaron Berg, Ian Bagg, and NPR contributor Ophira Eisenberg.

The festival concludes the following night with a returning favorite, the Boston vs. New York smackdown. Team Boston includes Drew Dunn, Jon Fisch, and Juston McKinney, while their counterparts from New York include Brian Scott McFadden, Paul Ollinger, and Ted Alexandro. Emmy-award-winning ESPN sports commentator Bob Ley returns to referee the event.

Proceeds from the festival go to support Stand Up and Learn, a comedy education program for children.

“It’s been created by the festival, by people coming to the festival and supporting the festival,” Flynn said.

Recently, Stand Up and Learn has begun to expand, preparing lessons that can be provided free of charge to summer camps and Native American reservations across the country.

“I’m really excited that educators have kind of picked up on it,” Flynn said. “It’s really been a Nantucket thing…now it will be a little bit more formalized.”

Flynn stressed the importance of community to the festival, saying that despite the rapidly increasing cost of housing on island, he has worked to keep ticket price down.

“We’ve kept prices low, we’ve kept them the same for eight years,” he said. “Part of our moniker is building community through laughter, and I think every year we see that, and it’s just so fun.”