ENTERTAINMENT

Austin's Moontower Comedy Festival just wrapped its biggest year. Here are 4 top moments

Matthew Odam Kelsey Bradshaw Deborah Sengupta Stith

Austin American-Statesman

Moontower Comedy Festival wrapped it's biggest year yet earlier this month. Over the course of two weeks, 150 comics performed at 150 shows scattered around the city. The comics performed at small club shows as well as large concert halls.

Here are four highlights from this year's headliner sets.

'I Think You Should Leave' Live

If you’re a fan of the Netflix sketch comedy show “I Think You Should Leave,” you know from the memes and the videos constantly shared online (and probably in one or two of your text threads) that you’re not alone.

But it might not be until show creators Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin hit the stage at a crowded live show that you really take in the fact that the love you usually enjoy in private is one shared by many.

Loyal Michigander Robinson walked onto the Bass Concert Hall stage following a brief standup set from fellow “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Brooks Wheelan and the audience sprung to its feet. A standing ovation. For the star of a short-form absurdist sketch comedy show. No, you’re not alone.

And that’s part of the beauty, not just of comedy, but of Robinson and Kanin’s specific sort of comedy. Their sketches often take a simple premise, a regular-guy boob who stumbles into an awkward, if harmless, situation — say pushing a door instead of pulling it (we’ve all been there). But instead of humbly wearing the shame or trying to brush it aside, the character magnifies and heightens it to truly epic proportions. “I Think You Should Leave” lets us all feel a little better about our shared mundanity and humanity.

The two creators, who recently inked a deal to bring their new comedy “The Chair Company” to HBO, appeared at the Moontower Comedy festival as part of a small “ITYSL” live tour in which they play outtakes of their Netflix cult favorite.

You know those multi-disc Beatles CDs from the mid-90s that offered sublime cuts of songs you’ve never heard, or hits interpreted in a new-to-you form? It’s kinda like that. But replace B-side obscurities with fully produced five minute sketches. Like the one where Robinson’s character believes he’s left his wallet behind following a genteel and milquetoast business meeting, only to return and explode with accusations of theft at one of his lunch companions. Of course, he had not forgotten the wallet. And, of course, it gets weird.

The live show featured appearances by “ITYSL” regular Patti Harrison, Robinson’s “Detroiters” co-star Sam Richardson (also a standing ovation) and former Austinte and current “SNL” cast member Devon Walker, among others. The guests appeared on the living room-styled stage to watch the outtakes and jokingly judge whether the sketches should have made the original show or not.

But the night’s best bit (besides the aired sketches) featured improv comedian Brendan Jennings (he was announced to the stage as “Bruce”) playing a local improviser who had recently quit his junior high teaching career to study and perform improv full time at Coldtowne Theatre. Jennings, who stuck around for the entire show after being introduced, played the goofy, awkward, star-struck nascent performer with such believable earnestness and fish-out-of-water eagerness that I got the sense many in the crowd initially didn’t realize they were watching a (ever-so-slightly cynical) bit at all. But, most eventually seemed in on the joke. After all, why else would they be there? — Matthew Odam

Nicole Byer

It's no surprise the 37-year-old comedian and actress is in-demand as a TV personality. The host of the TBS game show "Wipeout" and the Netflix series "Nailed It" — which was twice nominated for Emmys and twice lost to RuPaul, she quipped — exudes easy warmth. She carries an air of camaraderie that makes you instantly feel like her bestie.

In a hilarious set, she took on Hollywood's obsession with the weight-loss drug Ozempic. As an "old fat," she gave valuable advice to the "new fats" who emerged after the pandemic. And she mused raunchily about what actually happened at that controversial Lizzo outing in Amsterdam.

She kept the audience in stitches and received a raucous standing ovation at the end of her set. — Deborah Sengupta Stith

Rachel Bloom

Bloom, an actress, comedian, writer, singer and more, brought her one-woman show to State Theatre on the first night of Moontower Comedy Festival and it was stunning. The show follows Bloom as she confronts the parts of her past that include death and near-death experiences. It was funny and wacky and moving. Bloom is not just a talented comic and singer, but also a talented storyteller. — Kelsey Bradshaw

Margaret Cho

Cho brought down the house during her headlining set at Moontower Comedy Festival. She was delightfully gross talking about sex and relationships, strong in her anger about anti-LGBTQIA and anti-choice legislation, and downright hysterical in her impressions of her mother. Cho is an icon for a reason and we can't wait for her to come back to Austin. — K.B.