We accept 50 comedians and they are known in the industry as ‘The Top 50 Up & Coming Comedians.’
We do have 10 alternates in case anyone in The Top 50 cannot attend… which does happen every year. So if you make alternate, you still have a good shot of getting into The Laughing Skull Comedy Festival.

We will watch 3 minutes of your video. Please tell us where you want us to start watching your video.

We judge you on 5 criteria:

1. Material
2. Delivery
3. Stage Presence
4. Crowd Response
5. Overall Judge’s Impression

Yes. We let everyone know if they are accepted or not. Plus we have an ‘Alternate’ because we always have people who cannot make the festival for whatever reason.

Your submission fee is NON-REFUNDABLE if you are not accepted to the festival… sad we have to tell people that, but here we are. FYI… You are paying us to spend time watching & judging your video.

Industry likes to see you more than once. The first time they want to see that you are authentic, have good material, delivery & stage presence. You are now on their radar and they will want to see you 1-2 more times before working with you. Sometimes less, sometimes more. But the point is they want to see you are working on your craft & getting funnier.

VERY. One rule to go by is… everyone is funny, who do you want to work with?
Also, managers will be assessing how you might handle yourself if they can sit you down in a meeting with TV/Film execs. There are horror stories where a manager invites their new comedian client to meet with TV/Film execs where the comedian just shits the bed and the execs want nothing to do with them. The execs will think… “Sure, they kill on stage, but fuck that noise, I do not want to work with that idiot.”So be nice, be profession, while being yourself. Remember, everyone you meet in this industry are people with feelings and big dreams.FYI, the industry we invite to LSCF are all good people and we encourage them to initiate talking to comedians. One of our favorite compliments is how we create a relaxed & fun environment where comedians and industry can spend time together without the typical anxiety comedians feel when talking to industry.

We wish… sorry, we do not pay comedians to attend nor pay for travel & lodging. We are a small festival with no sponsors and we usually lose a little money or break even on the comedy festival.  If you have been in the business a minute, you will know of lots of small festival that have come & gone but we have been doing it since 2010. The only way we justify LSCF as a loss leader is that The Laughing Skull Lounge has staff on salary year round which helps cover the staff costs.

Comedians who attend Laughing Skull Comedy Festival do so on their own dime as an investment in their career. We pay lots of industry (usually 20+ or so) to fly into town, put them up in hotel, pay for parties, etc. So instead of paying comedians to attend and not having industry, we pay industry to attend so comedians can be seen by people who can help their career.

We do give you a tape of your set at the industry showcase at The Laughing Skull Lounge. Your tape will have great video, audio & crowd reaction.

We wish we could pay the festival comedians, but if we did, then we would not have a festival.

For the days you are in town, here is your show schedule:
Thursday 8:00 pm
Friday 8:00 & 10:30 pm
Saturday 8:00 & 10:30 pm
Sunday 7:30 pm

You may have more shows that that, but we guarantee you these shows.
FYI… the main part of the festival where industry is here is Thursday-Saturday and the Sunday show is for anyone who stays in town.

YES! All our industry showcases are at The Laughing Skull Lounge and these shows will be sold out. And we will give you a tape of your set from these shows which have great audio, video, sound & crowd reaction.

OK, now we come to the fun part of the festival. We have a HUGE focus on our parties.

We day parties, after parties & after-after parties. Every party has food & beverage.
The day parties is a little more chill and people just eat, some drink, and lots of just hanging out.

The after parties have more food & drinks, a DJ and dance floor. A comedy festival dance party is one of the best things this world has to offer. The after-after parties are much smaller but very intimate.