Tax Free Comedy Festival brings 24 East Coast comedy acts to Wilmington for two weekends

And now for something totally different...the Tax Free Comedy Festival!

A first for The First State, the new two-weekend comedy festival will land on Market Street starting next weekend, bringing improv, stand-up and musical comedy performances into the heart of downtown Wilmington.

The debut of the 24-act, 13-show festival not only offers familiar faces, such as Wilmington's Fearless Improv troupe, stand-up Brandon Vincent Jackson and musical comedy act Todd Chappelle, but also a cavalcade of performers from New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.

It all starts with a smaller-scale preview this Friday at 7 p.m. at Liquid Alchemy (28 Brookside Drive), near Elsmere. 

The main event goes down April 27-28 and May 4-5 at the Delaware History Museum (504 N. Market St.), located just steps away from The Queen. 

The museum became home to workshops taught by Wilmington's Fearless Improv after the museum's two-year, $6.8-million renovation was completed in late 2016.

So where did this ambitious homegrown comedy festival come from?

For four years, Fearless Improv has had a seasonal slot at Wilmington's City Theater Company. This time, they reached out to fellow Delaware improv groups, stand-ups and musical comedy acts and decided to move it from the Black Box at OperaDelaware on the Riverfront into downtown.

Fearless Improv director Jana Savini is the woman behind the festival, having curated a version of it for past City Theater Company weekend shows. This time, instead of reaching out only to friends and comedians she knows, she opened it up and re-branded it as the Tax Free Comedy Festival.

"The shows were getting bigger and bigger and this year it just seemed like it was time to take the next step," Savini says of the move, noting that some shows have drawn crowds of more than 100 people. 

The result should be a comedy (and not solely female) version of the Ladybug Music Festival, the grassroots festival that features scores of performers over multiple days on Market Street each summer. (Fun fact: Ladybug, July 20-21, will have comedy for the first time this year, dubbed the 'No Bro Comedy Show' hosted by Melissa Bernard.)

The performances will be held in the 180-person Copeland Room on the second floor -- the same spot where Delaware Shakespeare fans watched a benefit performance of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" in 2016.

Out-of-town acts include Baltimore musical comedy couple Jen Diamond and Pam Hugi as OLGA, West Chester's Better than Bacon improv group and Alejandro Morales, showrunner for Philadelphia's Good Good Comedy Theatre. 

Good Good is the comedy theater behind last year's "Weeding Out the Stoned" shows at Wilmington's Bootless Stageworks, which will return June 9.

Wilmington comedian Brandon Vincent Jackson helped tap some of the out-of-town comics, having hosted stand-up shows in Delaware for the past four years.

Where have those shows been, exactly? Throw a dart at a map of northern New Castle County and you are likely to hit a spot.

He's delivered jokes everywhere from pizza places and bike shops to barrooms and even street corners, so performing at the Delaware History Museum should be something different. "It might be a little too classy for me," he cracks.

Jackson has seen more interest in live comedy shows recently, pointing to specials being more easily accessible online and through services such as Netflix.

"I think comedy could have a comeback here, but you just have to find the right home for it," Jackson says. "It's harder for comedy to stay consistent in Delaware because it's hard to keep talent -- everybody wants to go to go to a big city and follow their dream." 

There was hope that an intimate basement stage at Spaceboy Clothing on Market Street could be the answer, but shows there were quickly shut down by city officials last year for not meeting code. 

But Spaceboy co-owner David Sanchez says he is working to meet all the regulations needed to bring the shows back and hopes to be back up in June with extra basement space, which could also be used for art shows, concerts or flea markets.

"The vibe is perfect," Sanchez says of his underground comedy club.

Thirty years ago, the stand-up comedy boom of the '80s also hit Wilmington with downtown bustling not only for local rock shows as the original music scene thrived, but also comedy shows.

As the bubble burst, those smaller, local comedy shows evaporated leaving only major venues like The Grand in Wilmington and Newark's Bob Carpenter Center and big-name comics for Delaware comedy fans. (Note: Lisa Lampanelli, Paula Poundstone, Chris D'Elia, Kathleen Madigan and Lewis Black are all coming up at The Grand this year.)

Could comedy be crawling back into Wilmington's nightlife scene?

Hosting easily accessible festivals like Tax Free could help, along with the growing number of people signing up for Fearless Improv's classes at the museum.

At first, the comedy group offered a few one-day workshops, which then grew into mini-courses. Now, they offer Improv 101 and more advanced Improv 301 classes, which each cost $175 for eight 2-hour sessions.

As part of the festival, nearly 15 improv comedians who have graduated from the group's 16-hour classes will perform a free show to kick off the opening night at 7 p.m.

"The scene in Philadelphia started small and it's huge now," says Savini, who got her start taking classes at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater about 15 years ago. "There are a lot of people who live here and were still going to New York and Philly for classes and shows, so we realized we don't have to drive -- we can do it right here."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: Tax Free Comedy Festival

When: April 27-28 and May 4-5

Where: Delaware History Museum, 504 N. Market St., Wilmington

Cost: Each night is broken into multiple hour-long "blocks" of shows, costing $10 each. It's $25 for an entire night. A weekend pass is available for $45 and festival passes cost $75.

Tickets and information: taxfreecomedyfestival.com

COMPLETE SCHEDULE

April 27

7-8 p.m. --  City Theater Company's improv class graduation show (Free)

8-9 p.m. -- Stand-up: LeMaire Lee (Philadelphia), Dan Vetrano (Philadelphia), Cassandra Dee (Prospect Park, Pennsylvania) and headliner Brandon Vincent Jackson (Wilmington)

9-10 p.m. -- Improv: OLGA (Baltimore) and Better Than Bacon (West Chester)

10-11 p.m. -- Musical Comedy: Mean Wendy Band featuring Wendy and Zach (Philadelphia) and improv jam

April 28

8-9 p.m. -- Stand-up: Shane O'Connor (Philadelphia), Amanda Taylor (Philadelphia), TBD and headliner Darryl Charles (Philadelphia)

9-10 p.m. -- Improv: Groundhog and Butler (Philadelphia), Zooballoon (Philadelphia, PA)

10-11 p.m. -- Musical Comedy:Todd Chappelle (Chadds Ford) and improv jam

May 4

8-9 p.m. -- Stand-up: Dave Piccolomini (Brooklyn), Matt Brown (Baltimore), Reginald Edwards (Bronx) and headliner Good Good Comedy Theatre's Alejandro Morales (Philadelphia)

9-10 p.m. -- Improv: Ad Hoc (Wilmington/Philadelphia), Suggestical (Philadelphia)

10-11 p.m. -- TBD

May 5

8-9 p.m. -- Stand-up: Matt Hyams (Philadelphia), Brian Six (Philadelphia), Betty Smithsonian (Philadelphia) and headliner TBD.

9-10 p.m. -- Improv: Dad Joke (Washington, D.C.) and Fearless Improv (Wilmington)

10-11 p.m. -- Improv: Fearless Improv (Wilmington) and improv jam

PREVIEW SHOW

The festival preview will be held Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Liquid Alchemy Beverages meadery, 28 Brookside Drive, near Elsmere. Performers include Fearless Improv, Brandon Vincent Jackson, Belynda Cleare and Ty Jamison. Tickets are $10 at taxfreecomedyfestival.com.