As the High Plains Comedy Festival returns for its 10th edition, Denver audiences can catch dozens of stand-up sets from 100 local and national comics, podcast recordings, open-mic nights, reunions, and more along the city’s South Broadway corridor.
They’ll also see plenty of crowd work at the event, which began Thursday, Sept. 21, and continues through Saturday, Sept. 23. Most of us know it well: that seemingly unavoidable part of stand-up that trades practiced, written material for surface-y, sometimes contentious, audience interaction.
Whether that includes shutting down a heckler or querying unsuspecting folks in the front row, it’s something comics have increasingly come to regard as either an asset or a crutch — especially following its ascension on social media in the form of viral clips on TikTok and Instagram.
“Crowd work is something some comedians do very well and even base entire tours/careers on,” wrote Karen Wachtel, the festival’s executive producer and a veteran national comedy booker, via email. “But as comics have felt more pressure to build their online presences, crowd work seems to be a necessary piece (sometimes evil), even for comedians who have mostly avoided crowd work in their natural style.”
“(It has) ruined talking to the crowd,” said Colorado comic Sam Tallent, who will visit High Plains for a pair of podcast recordings, a reunion of Denver’s Fine Gentleman’s Club, and his own stand-up set at the Hi-Dive. “Now everyone thinks you’re trying to get a viral clip. And that translates to either people giving you preposterous answers to any kind of interaction — answers they think will help the comedian — or, even worse, answers they think are funny.
“Our phones are ruining our memories,” added Tallent, who is acclaimed for his nimble improvisation.
Phones and talking during the shows will be culturally verboten, as usual, at this year’s stand-up shows at the Hi-Dive, Mutiny Information Cafe, Skylark Lounge’s Bobcat Club, and Chaos Bloom. The Saturday, Sept. 23, headlining set by Matteo Lane at the Paramount Theatre will practically require their absence (as does Comedy Works, the region’s premier stand-up club).
The fact that most of the shows and recordings take place in independent rock clubs, bars, and coffee shops makes it harder to control. But by now, many Denver comedy audiences have learned some comedy etiquette. And not every comic is so down on crowd work when their crowds are friendly and relatively niche.
“For Dyketopia, so much of our show is centered on interacting with the crowd,” said co-founder Lee Robinson, who along with Kate McLachlan has seen a string of sold-out shows thanks to their inclusive, wildly funny, queer-focused format. “We bring audience members on stage with us to play games and talk to them, and the improvised comedy that is borne out of these interactions creates so much of the magic for our show. Audiences love to see something real, unrehearsed and spontaneous.”
Colorado comic and actor Janae Burris said she has come around to crowd work lately as it’s gained traction online. She’s specific about what she asks the audience to contribute, though.
“Lately, I ask for moms, then I ask motherhood-related questions that are not too broad so that I can leave that interaction and easily jump back into my set,” said Burris, a recent mother herself.
Burris and others interviewed for this article pointed to national comics such as Laurie Kilmartin and Jen Kirson as masters of crowd work, as well as Colorado’s own Tallent, John Novosad, Steve Gillespie, Christie Buchele. Denver’s nationally known Grawlix trio, which features High Plains founder/director Adam Cayton-Holland, as well as Ben Roy and Andrew Orvedahl, are also known to turn audience interactions into hearty laughs at their monthly showcases at the Bug Theatre (they’re also performing as a trio and individually at High Plains).
Comics who avoid crowd work are often afraid it will devolve into a messy back-and-forth, in which audiences start to think they’re the ones telling jokes.
“(It) can derail the set,” said Nathan Lund, a member of the Fine Gentleman’s Club who just released his first comedy album and special, “Soup’s On” (stream it for free on YouTube at bit.ly/3Zv6yKy). “It can make someone think they should continue to interact after I have moved on, which can be awkward. If the crowd member is drunk, it can get annoying to be interrupted and then I have to shut them down and that can destroy momentum or create tension.”
Great crowd work from comedians who love and practice it isn’t cliché, producer Wachtel said.
“But the push to make every comedian do it is exhausting comedians who are skilled and artistic writers and creating audiences that don’t make for a positive live standup experience.”
Denver’s nationally acclaimed comic Josh Blue has no mercy for people talking during his set, and is known for shutting them down with breathtaking skill. In other words: if you talk while he’s telling jokes, you’re doing so at great risk.
“My general instinct is to go right at someone heckling or causing a problem,” he said. “If you make yourself a nuisance, I’m going to come right for you and verbally eviscerate you. Each case is different so there is not one answer for every situation. But for the most part, seek and destroy.”
If you go
10th High Plains Comedy Festival: Stand-up and podcast fest with Beth Stelling, Chris Gethard, Ian Karmel, Vanessa Gonzalez, Dave Hill, Shane Torres, Jonah Ray, Caitlin Peluffo, Giulia Rozzi, David Gborie, and many more. Thursday, Sept. 21-Saturday, Sept. 23, at various South Broadway venues. Full-festival passes sold out; most individual shows are $15-$20, minus Matteo Lane at the Paramount Theatre Sept. 23 ($39.50-$79.50). highplainscomedyfestival.com
