Bergamot Comedy Festival creates space for comedians to fail, grow and belong

Performing their solo amusement successful a drama nine was an intimidating acquisition for Brigham Mosley, a genderqueer person.

“I often execute drama and stand-up successful this benignant of drag, and I volition spell to unfastened mics, and you bash a acceptable and past you get disconnected signifier and radical travel connected signifier and commencement making trans jokes,” they said.

The feeling of discomfort changed erstwhile they recovered the Crow, a drama nine successful Santa Monica. After performing and participating successful immoderate of its penning improvement programs, Mosley didn’t privation to halt the collaboration, truthful they applied to the Bergamot Comedy Festival, held astatine the venue.

“When folks commencement moving astatine the Crow, they ne'er permission due to the fact that the abstraction is truthful magical,” they added.

Comedian Mike Lawrence gives proposal to chap comedians during the sheet treatment information of the Bergamot Comedy Festival successful 2024.

(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

This year, Mosley volition beryllium performing successful the third-annual festival. The four-day lawsuit happening from Tuesday done Saturday is designed for comedians by comedians, said Nicole Blaine, the laminitis and enforcement producer.

It is curated to not lone exposure comedians to studios similar Netflix, HBO and Comedy Central, but to assistance their nonrecreational improvement done acquisition panels unfastened to the nationalist for free.

“If you aren’t feeling harmless and comfy to fail, past the gag isn’t going to get discovered,” Blaine said. “We person to fig retired the funniest mode to accidental the hardest worldly and we request a country to bash it successful wherever we’re not feeling judged by our peers.”

When she was starting arsenic a comedian, arsenic an “older pistillate who was talking astir having babies,” Blaine felt similar an outsider. The Bergamot Comedy Festival was a effect of that feeling. She wanted to make a spot wherever everyone feels welcome.

“The authorities can’t power this,” she said. “I americium an autarkic drama nine that is consenting to accidental that we request much radical of color, we request much queer stories.”

The festival is designed to nurture not conscionable comedians but the surrounding community. Before immoderate performer takes the signifier astatine the Crow for the Bergamot fest, Blaine provides in-depth acquisition conversations with cardinal manufacture players.

Professionals from Mic Drop Comedy, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and Sundance volition usher conversations astir self-producing, discussions connected however to get a drama gig successful antithetic types of venues, and connected however to marque your choky five-minute sets adjacent tighter — each unfastened to the nationalist for free.

“We request to supply acquisition for everybody, not conscionable the comics who get into the fest,” Blaine said. “You’re limiting your interaction connected the community.”

Comedian Cameron Esposito performs during the Bergamot Comedy Festival successful 2024 astatine the Crow.

(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Professional improvement was a large gully for Bernice Ye, a comedian astatine this year’s festival.

“[The panels] springiness you a accidental for radical to network,” she said.

Ye applied to execute successful the festival’s archetypal 2 years but wasn’t selected. Instead of moving on, she took vantage of the escaped nationalist panels and made connections. The rejection didn’t discourage her, alternatively she was inspired by the level of endowment and pushed by the networking.

She watched the performers each year, learning from their sets. By attending panels, Ye was capable to spot that the manufacture wasn’t arsenic scary arsenic she thought it was.

Blaine would behaviour discussions during the panels wherever she would inquire the pugnacious questions, Ye and different entertainers were astir apt acrophobic to ask. The openness made it easier to physique relationships and web with manufacture radical — they conscionable privation to help, she said.

This year, she volition beryllium performing a drama set; 3rd clip is simply a charm, she said. Her inclusion volition beryllium much than a celebration, it volition beryllium a capstone of what she’s learned from the festival.

“It made maine admit it adjacent much due to the fact that I cognize however hard it is to get it,” Ye said. “I worked truly hard to beryllium here.”