The Because They’re Funny Comedy Festival kicks off in southwest DC this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Listen to our full conversation on my podcast, Beyond Fame with Jason Frehley.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley Announces ‘Because They’re Funny’ Comedy Festival (Part 1)
You’ll laugh so hard you might fall into the Washington Potomac Canal this weekend at The Wharf. The Because They’re Funny Comedy Festival kicks off in southwest DC this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Jeff Friday, the festival’s founder, told WTOP that the area is the “perfect landing spot and epicenter” for the event.
“If you choose the wrong destination, the festival can be difficult, so with the support of Events DC, The Wharf, my love for DC has returned to my college roots,” Friday said. “And one more thing: DC has an amazing comedy heritage, especially comedians of color: Martin Lawrence, Wanda Sykes, Dave Chappelle, Tommy Davidson, Donnell Rawlings… so it’s a perfect place.”
Since 1997, the Howard University graduate has directed the American Black Film Festival, and since 2006 has hosted the Black Movie Awards (now ABFF Honors). He honored Halle Berry, John Singleton, Spike Lee, Robert Townsend, Denzel Washington, Isaac Hayes, Regina King, Taraji P. Henson, Antoine Fuqua and Idris Elba, as well as comic book MCs such as Tommy Davidson, Kevin Hart, J.K. B. Smoove and D. L. Hughley. Issa Rae has just been named creative director of the film festival for 2024.
“Every year we have a competition for new directors, and 11 years ago this gentleman, Ryan Coogler, who directed Black Panther, was our winner… For an 11-minute short film called Fig, I gave him a check for $40,000 . “, said Friday. “What desire for comedy? The same. Twenty years from now, if we’re still here, we hope (people say), “Wow, so-and-so started their BTF career in Washington back in 2023.”
The inaugural Because They’re Funny Comedy Festival (BTF) kicks off on Friday, October 6th with the Comedian of the Year Competition hosted by DC Young Fly of MTV’s Wild ‘N Out at The Anthem at 8pm on Friday called It’s the festival’s “comedy version of ‘American Idol,'” and he said it received about 400 submissions from around the country.
“The criteria was that it had to be Black comedians, Indigenous comedians, BIPOC comedians… we had a semi-final round in Los Angeles and we’re bringing the top six to Washington to compete on opening night,” he said. “The winner will receive $20,000 and sign with Hollywood talent agency Innovative Artists, so the winner will receive $20,000 and an agent.”
The laughter continues on Saturday, October 7th with the documentary “In Amanda We Believe” on the Union Stage at 1:30 p.m. with a Q&A with Amanda Seales, followed by a “Socially Funny” panel on the Union Stage at 4:30 p.m.
“We’ve rounded up three of the most influential people in social media who are comics: B. Simone, Ha Ha Davis and KevOnStage; Collectively, they have about 15 million followers on Instagram,” Friday said. “This is a panel discussion about how they built their empire as comics who started their careers on social media platforms.”
Later that evening, catch the comedy show “Hey Ladies Fierce Female” at The Anthem at 8:30 p.m.
“In this lineup we have Luenell, Aida Rodriguez, Ego Nwodim and Nicole Byer,” Friday said.
The documentary Mecca of Comedy will premiere in DC on Sunday, October 8th at 5:00 pm on the Union Stage.
“Parrish Smith is a local filmmaker from Washington, and he made a film about the history of black comedy in the DMV area,” Friday said. “I knew people coming out of Washington like Martin (Lawrence) and others, but I never knew what inspired those stories and who they looked up to, like who Dave Chappelle looked up to when he was a young comedian appearing in ANNOUNCEMENT? This movie fills the gap of how we got the Vands, the Martins and the Dave Chappelles.”
It all culminates with Sunday’s DMV Black Comedy Homecoming Show at The Anthem at 8:30 p.m.
“I’m really excited about this show because we’re reuniting some of these big names: Pierre, Joe Clair, Donnell Rawlings, Tommy Davidson and Red Grant,” Friday said. “This evening will be hosted by Yvonne Orji, an incredible young comedian who also starred in Insecure alongside Issa Rae. … Many of the OG in Black comedies that have come out over the years will also be in the room, so we’ll have a special surprise at the show.”
In addition to the headliners, festival company Nice Crowd hopes to train the next generation of comedians through daytime workshops at the Pearl Street Warehouse, which will also host nightly concerts throughout the festival.
“While we are a live events company, we call ourselves an events company that does focused work in the entertainment space, so our whole mission is to diversify the entertainment landscape,” Friday said. “We’ve been doing it for film and television for almost three decades, and now we’re going to do it for comedy. We want black and brown comics to have as many opportunities as their mainstream counterparts, and this festival will do just that.”
More information can be found here.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley Announces ‘Because They’re Funny’ Comedy Festival (Part 2)
Listen to our full conversation on my podcast, Beyond Fame with Jason Frehley.
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