Friendship is the foundation and the future of the Laughter on the Lakeshore Comedy Festival, returning for its second year in downtown Muskegon, Aug. 29-30.
Initially the brainchild of local comedian/promoter/producer Ricarlo Williams-Winston of RJN Comedy, Laughter on the Lakeshore took over four bars and businesses last summer as it welcomed comedy fans for a weekend filled with laughs, connection and beachside vibes.
“I feel like a lot of people came away from it with a different impression of Muskegon,” Williams-Winston told Revue. “Just being downtown and seeing all the shops that are open and everything that is going on. I think people who have never been here before, and they came in for the festival, they got to see another side of Muskegon.”
Aiming to grow with the city, Laughter on the Lakeshore’s return will expand to five different locations, all in downtown Muskegon.
“The businesses have been super excited for it to come back again,” Williams-Winston said. “We have four new venues that we’ve partnered with. It’s crazy we actually have venues reaching out to us at this point. We actually had to turn a couple venues away, but hopefully we can work with them on projects in the future, or next year’s festival, but that’s a good problem to have.”
Featuring 25 regional comedians, Laughter on the Lakeshore will open at 6 p.m. on Aug. 29 with the LOL Showcase at Rake Beer Project, 500 W. Western Ave, at 6 p.m. That will be followed the Rolling On The Floor With Laughing”at Earthwise Gallery, 1141 3rd St. at 7:40 p.m., and close with the night’s headlining show, For The Birds, a female-centric lineup produced by local comedian Lucky Lee, also at Earthwise, at 9 p.m.
Day Two of Laughter on the Lakeshore begins bright and early with the Open Mic Comedy Brunch starting at 11 a.m. at Early Owl Café, 451 W. Western Ave. The laughs continue all day, with the Family Comedy Show at The Bowl, 441 W. Western Ave., at 1 p.m., the Canna-Comedy Bash at Rake Beer Project at 2:20 p.m., another Rolling on the Floor With Laughing event at Earthwise at 4:30 p.m., another LOL Showcase at Unruly Brewing, 360 W. Western Ave., at 6:30 p.m., and the weekend’s headlining event, The Heavyweights, also at Unruly, at 9 p.m.
The Heavyweights will feature Michigan comedians Cam Rowe, Robert Jenkins, and Kevin Johnson, who regularly perform with Williams-Winston as the Jokes On You Comedy Tour.
“That was the selfish reason that I even created the festival, because it’s just a great time being around all your friends and colleagues, and just great networking,” Williams-Winston said.
“I’m most excited for the comedian brunch,” he added. “That is going to be an opportunity for the community to come and meet all comedians that are on the festival. We’re going to be doing an open mic during brunch. You can come out and have brunch with us. My goal for the festival is for every comedian to come away with at least five new fans or followers.”
Williams-Winston said another great thing about this year’s festival is that all five venues are right in downtown Muskegon and within walking distance of each other.
“I think that’s going to just add to the energy and the excitement of the festival, because people will be able to leave one venue, you’ve got your group of friends together, and you head to the next venue. Maybe you pick up a comedian along the way, or they walk with you. So I think that’s going to be a great experience.”
Sponsored by VanDyk Mortgage Corporation, all the daytime events for Laughter on the Lakeshore will be free, with a $5 suggested donation. That donation will give attendees VIP status that includes a guaranteed seat at the show, and an exclusive meet and greet with comedians. Tickets for Saturday night’s Heavyweights show are $20.
“Having a sponsorship like that allows me to do more for the comedians and make the shows as affordable as possible,” Williams-Winston said. “To me, comedy’s never been about, ‘Oh I want to get rich.’ So if I cannot put barriers where barriers don’t need to be, I won’t do that. With today’s economy, finances are something that people are definitely thinking about. So I don’t want them to stress about the price of a laugh. Laughter should be free, and a chance to have a break from everything that’s going on. So even if you can’t make it to the $20 headliner show, hopefully you can make it to one of the free shows.”
After running last year’s fest, and handling all of the submissions for this year’s lineup himself, Williams-Winston expanded the Laughter on the Lakeshore team, bringing Lucky Lee as a producer on Friday night’s closing show, Misti “Tinkerbell” Mahon for marketing and graphic design, Eric Wilson for street team support, and Scott Little for merchandise.
“I put up just a general Facebook post asking who would like to be involved with the festival this year and I got flooded with responses,” Williams-Winston said. “I was really taken aback by it, like, ‘Wow, this many people would want to be involved with this little festival I put together myself.’ But it was great to see the response. A lot of people wanted to step up and help. There’s comedians from the Detroit area, people from Chicago, Indiana, so it really showed me how large and connected the comedy community really is. Sometimes we get stuck in our own little scenes, but at the end of the day, we’re all just chasing dreams and we love to make people laugh, so it’s great to see the community come together like that.”
Starting small and continuing to grow, Williams-Winston said his goal for Laughter on the Lakeshore is to bring in more sponsors and tie in with the city of Muskegon more. He has spoken with the mayor about the event, and would like to eventually expand to bigger venues, and host a big name headliner.
“I want it to get to the point where the summer hits and you’re counting down, Laughter on the Lakeshore is coming up, who have they got coming this year?” he said. “That’s my goal for the expansion and the future of this festival.”
Laughter on the Lakeshore Comedy Festival
Aug. 29-30
Multiple Locations, Downtown Muskegon
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