More than 2,500 people of all ages gathered in downtown Ashland theaters, restaurants and pop-up clubs last weekend to laugh about the quirky arts-centric city during the first-ever Ashland Sarcasm Festival.
Ashland’s unapologetically edgy celebration brought stand-up to a city previously known mainly for Shakespeare, and provided a post-theater season economic boost. The successful debut has grassroots organizers promising a weekend of comedy and wit as an annual winter event.
Kids saw hours of improv and created new lyrics for Motown classics through Mad Libs. Adults applauded as nationally recognized comics gently satirized the small southern Oregon city the performers were seeing for the first time.
In his trademark half whisper, half giggle, comic Ron Funches confessed Ashland seemed like a fantasy land. “It’s so storybook, I don’t trust it,” he said to 600 people attending the first of his two sold-out shows Saturday at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s premier venue, the Angus Bowmer Theatre.
Funches, who lived in Salem and Portland before moving to Los Angeles, joked that a little pony came up to his restaurant table.
Comedians congregating in Ashland Dec. 5-7 to launch a festival focused on storytelling and skewering created a cultural shift: The city long seen as a slow-paced amusement park for retirees became cool, a comedic epicenter. Stand-up, improv, drag, musical comedy and other performances at more than 20 events allowed residents and visitors to let loose.
The Ashland Sarcasm Festival was the ambitious idea of festival organizer Matt Hoffman of Storytown Ashland in partnership with Matthew Bernard of Epic Ashland. Both men grew up in Ashland and are determined to expand entertainment offerings and take advantage of underutilized venues.
“Shakespeare was known for tragedies and comedies,” Hoffman reminded the closing night crowd. In a time when everything seems to be taken too seriously, “laughter is needed.”
He sees ironic, sarcastic remarks made in a deliberately impassive David Letterman-like manner as “high art if delivered correctly” and the “beautiful weirdness of Ashland” as a place ripe for ribbing.
Hoffman, creative director of the nonprofit Storytown Ashland, said in a news release that the festival team wanted to create “something uniquely Ashland — smart, irreverent community-driven.”
He added that 17 sold-out shows in the first year “tells us we’re onto something special. See you next December.”
Bernard of Epic Ashland, which put on free summer concerts in downtown Lithia Park this year, wanted a way to brighten up winter. He worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to open its doors to Epic Nights of Comedy with two stand-up sets by Los Angeles comic Moshe Kasher (author of the darkly hilarious “Kasher in the Rye”) on Friday followed the next night by two sets by Funches.
Bernard said he was impressed by how quickly the comics picked up Ashland’s whimsy and spun it into jokes.
The historic downtown plaza surrounded by brick buildings adorned with twinkling lights was seen by the comics as a “set for a Hallmark movie.” They also commented that Ashland has “more bookstores than people” and most of the residents were adults in the 1980s, when “smoking on airplanes” was still allowed.
Another goal of the first sarcasm festival was to establish Ashland as a place high-caliber comics want to come and perform during the city’s off season.
“We’re pleased that the festival seems to have had the desired effect,” Bernard said. The comedians he spoke to want to return next year.
Nationally known talent invited to the festival included “Saturday Night Live” cast alum Luke Null, Los Angeles comedian Jared Goldstein and Portland comic Julia Corral. They were contestants in Jay Light’s unconventional quiz show Friday night, and then appeared on other stages Saturday.
Sunday’s sold-out closing event was a Historical Roast of William Shakespeare (played by Light) at the downtown Brickroom. The greatest writer in the English language was skewered by Edgar Allan Poe (DJ Sandhu) and Dr. Seuss (Sam Miller), as hosts Homer (Eddie Furth) and Mark Twain (Ryan Pigg) acted as referees.
Eve Smyth, an Ashland arts educator and improviser with the G-rated comedy improv troupe The Hamazons, exposed a saucy side of Jane Austen.
She praised Queen Elizabeth I (Amy Miller) as “a patron of the arts, which is much needed, desired and appreciated.” Smyth then warned the audience that as Austen, revered for her wit and social commentary, she would express views that were not “convivial” about the male writers “to dismantle this panel of patriarchy.”
Smyth, who co-founded the Ashland Children’s Theatre, said southern Oregon benefits from rich regional talent year-round. The visiting comics, “who are so supportive of each other and at the top of their game,” were a welcomed bonus, she said.
Before Sunday’s roast, Smyth performed with The Hamazons at a free, kid-friendly improv marathon at Sarcasm Hub, otherwise known as the White Rabbit technology base where the Storytown Ashland events calendar app was developed.
The festival offered something for everyone, Smyth said. And the timing is perfect. “After the Oregon Shakespeare Festival shuts down for the season, there are still opportunities to light up this beautiful city,“ she said.
She hopes to participate next year, but plans to make at least one change. She’s clearing her schedule to attend more events. “There was live music, a game show and performances that were free or low-cost, making them accessible,” she said. “It’s exciting.”