Moontower Comedy Festival Begins This Week: Here’s What You Need To Know

After two years (or at least two Aprils) without a full spring festival, Austin’s Moontower Comedy Festival is back and much bigger than ever. This year’s must-go pilgrimage to Austin Texas has grown from four days to ten, and the Moontower team has grown, bringing on the biggest name in comedy festivals as a partner- Just for Laughs. The result is a huge comedy party with an insane lineup of big theater shows, headliner shows in Austin’s amazing clubs, podcasts, live radio, specialty shows and plenty of time to find new favorites in traditional comedy club shows with packed lineups.

I spoke to festival directors Colleen McGarr and Lietza Brass who have been booking and running the Moontower for ten years now about this year’s festival.

With 25 headlining theater shows at the Paramount and Stateside Theaters, 34 themed shows and podcasts, and and over 120 comedians throughout the fest there are so many incredible options to choose from, it’s almost dizzying. And there are some brand new types of shows never done before at Moontower bringing comedy television into the fold with screenings and panels. Plan ahead because there’s so much to see and do!

The biggest change this year, is the fest’s partnership with the Just for Laughs team, which Lietza Brass told me has been a great experience. “It gave us the go-ahead to say, Okay, we want to be a bigger festival. How big can we be?” she said. “And they’re a great team. As you know, the Just For Laughs team is fantastic and I think what they’ve done for us is they’ve shed a light on what festival best practices are because we’re Moontower, we’ve produced a festival before, it happens to be a good festival, but still, it’s great to talk to other people who do it year-round internationally, so it’s been a great growth opportunity.” The collaboration has helped Moontower expand from roughly 80 shows in past years to over 164 shows this year.

Moontower has always been about finding the funniest people from every corner of comedy- finding diversity not only in gender and race and sexual orientation but also finding a diversity of comedy styles, show formats, venue types, venue sizes, and even making sure to create a mix of Moontower regulars and newcomers among the list. So whether you’re a veteran of Moontowers past, or coming for your first time you are going to find plenty of people you already love and lots more to discover.

Sarah Silverman is making her Moontower debut at the ACL Live Moody Theater. Dana Carvey and David Spade are also coming to the fest for the first time with their podcast, Fly on the Wall– at the Long Center. The Bald and the Beautiful is a drag podcast, without the drag. Colleen McGarr explained, “The Bald and the Beautiful is a podcast done by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo and they’re not in drag doing the podcast, but that’s why it’s the Bald and they’re beautiful. They’re in their kind of regular clothes, this is their podcast. And they’re hugely popular.” They’ll be at the Paramount.

This year, Moontower is presenting cast panels for the very first time, including the Cast of Showtime’s Barry, the creator of Black Lady Sketch Show and a screening of a brand new Showtime comedy, “I Love this For You” with Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon. “That was one of the things that Just For Laughs was instrumental in delivering to us was cast panels, which we’ve never had before, so we’re really excited about that,” Lietza said.

A few other new elements- some 4/20 related talent, like Billy Wayne Davis’ podcast, Grown Local, Midnight Tokers, The Glow Show, which is a really fun blacklight show, and Goddamn Comedy Jam is going to have a special 4/20 edition.

The fest is excited to bring Stamptown to Austin. “It’s very popular in L.A. and at Edinburgh. They describe it as “chaos”, but it’s really fun.It’s run by this guy named Zach Zucker and it’s comedy variety with people commenting within the show on the show and the lineups are going to be really fun for that.”

Carlos Ballarta a huge star from Mexico City is going to be in town doing his show in Spanish, after a successful all-spanish language back in September with Tom Segura and a talented roster of Mexican comedians. “It’s a huge thrill to have Carlos,” Colleen said. “He’s just massive and he performs in English and in Spanish, but will be doing an all in Spanish show.”

And there’s some new venues too this year. Parker Jazz Club, a covered indoor/outdoor space called Cedar Street Courtyard with two bars, and a place that’s both old and new, the grand opening of the Cap City Comedy Club, reopened in a new location. “They did a huge buildout, so these things take a lot more time than anyone ever anticipates, but it’s going to kick ass.” Colleen explained, “It’ll have two rooms like the old Cap City. The main showroom and then a smaller room and during Moontower, they’re recording some albums in there for Helium Records. M.K. Paulsen is recording an album there and Chris Tellez.” Lietza added, “It is absolutely a sterling location, right at a cross-section of some fantastic restaurants and shops. It’s going to be a very, very nice venue.” All the venues of Austin are amazing and Moontower always makes sure to blend historic spaces with new trendy hotspots, so you get to experience the city while you experience the festival. And everything is pretty walkable. “Lietza always does a great job on the venues and the footprint is still pretty tight except for Cap City to the north… But even the big shows that we’re doing are pretty much walkable from downtown,” Colleen told me. Even the Long Center, one of the outlier venues, is only a mile walk.

One of my favorite parts of the Moontower festival that doesn’t really exist anywhere else, is the feeling of a comedy family, with many returning favorite performers, and seeing them grow out of smaller venues and into bigger ones. Moontower doesn’t clean the slate each year, there are comics who not only return, but they develop within what I call the Moontower comedy educational system, starting on showcase lineups, graduating to headlining smaller venues and working there way up the system right to the State Side or Paramount Theaters. Moontower favorites, Dan Soder, Nikki Glaser, Mark Normand and Michelle Buteau are all headlining their own shows at The Paramount this year. Tim Dillon, who is just crushing, has multiple shows at the Paramount this year. Chris Redd has moved up to the Stateside theater this year, and so has Matteo Lane. And Neil Brennan is doing four nights in a row running his new show. It’s the Moontower dream- the Moontower family and its very cool to watch careers taking off.

A few loose ends, one of my favorite people you probably don’t know yet, Sophie Buddle is making her Moontower debut, along with a show featuring Sophie and other killers from the North, like Deb DiGiovanni, Abby Roberge and Nathan Macintosh among others spotlighting some of the great comedians to come out of Canada.

And Moontower’s spotlight on local comics is always stellar, but with the Austin comedy scene bursting at the seams, the home grown shows will be better than ever. “There are some new people in the Austin fold this year,” Colleen shared. “Angelina Martin, who we started having her host a lot of stuff at the state over the course, so we were just doing half-capacity stuff and Arielle Norman, this kid Dylan Sullivan that I like so much, he moved from L.A. during pandemic and he’s gotten really, really good. Yeah, there’s a few. Paul Oddo. Do you know him? He lived in New York for a long time, he’s an artist and a comic? He just moved back to Austin after 10 years in New York, so this is his first time at the festival too. The scene is just… It’s just on fire right now. I mean, you cannot… Any night of the week, you have several comedy shows to pick from.”

Plus all the best podcasts doing live shows, including Ian Edwards doing his soccer podcast this year, some really great theatrical shows like Anthony Devito’s one man show, “My Dad Isn’t Danny Devito,” and Alison Leiby’s one person show called “Not Having It.”

A few other personal favorites to make sure you have on your list, Brian Simpson who is quickly becoming the next big thing, Pete Lee, Big Jay Oakerson, Mary Beth Barone, Kurt Braunohler, Joel Kim Booster, Irene Tu, Adrienne Iapalucci, Emmy Blotnick, Jesus Trejo, Joyelle Johnson, and the Are You Garbage podcast to name a few.

Moontower is truly one of the best festivals for hardcore comedy fans to attend, because the badge system allows you to float in and out of as many shows as you want (except for the theater shows which are ticketed) and everything is so close together that it feels more cohesive than some other festivals spread around a bigger city. You’ll pass other badge holders, see the performers grabbing a burger in between shows, hang out with other fans, and feel like you’re immersed in a gigantic two week comedy event. And downtown Austin has a very special feel to it, you know you’re in Austin and not just a random city. And you’ll really feel a part of the neighborhood by day two.

And of course being in Austin has its perks and there’s plenty of time in the mornings and during the days to get to soak up the culture, and the amazing food. Want some tips about where to go? Check out this guide to Austin at Moontower from 2019 to get the best restaurant guide.  In this guide, we’ll share the best uniquely Austin spots, top tier restaurants, great street food, and even where to go when you don’t have much time.  Do visit at least one top BBQ spot, Do get yourself up in time for breakfast, and especially breakfast tacos, Do check out Rainey Street, Do enjoy some of the local junk food and if your time and budget allow Do try at least one great restaurant.. Drink Titos, get some ice cream. Walk down South Congress.  If you have some time, visit the lake, go watch some bats, and head to Sixth Street around sundown to hear some live music. Check out the Creek and the Cave and the new Cap City. Catch at least one show at Antone’s and soak in music history. Buy cowboy boots. Check out Daniel Johnston murals. And remember, our guide is from 2019 so check ahead to make sure these restaurants and destinations are still open.

And most of all, have fun!!!

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