High Plains Comedy Festival is dropping the mic after a dozen years of stand-up showcases and podcast tapings, ending one of the most respected, longest-running U.S. comedy festivals of the 21st century.
“All good things must come to an end, and man, has High Plains Comedy Festival been good,” festival organizers . “After 13 years and a dozen amazing festivals, we’re calling it.”
Founded by comedian Adam Cayton-Holland, a member of the Grawlix comedy trio and co-creator of the sitcom “Those Who Can’t,” High Plains over the years elevated the profile of local and national stand-ups from Denver, rivaling festivals such as Portland, Oregon’s now-defunct Bridgetown.
High Plains also proved that comedy could be a similar to punk and indie rock, while still attracting general crowds with diverse lineups, styles and venues. Significantly, High Plains offered alternatives to more expensive, two-drink-minimum club shows that might scare off casual comedy fans and newcomers to stand-up.
Cayton-Holland declined to comment when reached Wednesday. High Plains executive producer Karen Wachtel, his partner at the fest, did not respond to a request for comment.
The festival started modestly, with a few dozen performers on smaller stages, and soon expanded to larger venues for headlining shows, including the Gothic Theatre, McNichols Civic Center Building, and Paramount Theatre. Nationally acclaimed comics included Maria Bamford, David Cross, Reggie Watts, Anthony Jeselnik, Oscar-winning stand-up and writer Kumail Nanjiani, Pete Holmes, Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser, Bob the Drag Queen, and the “How Did this Get Made?” podcast.
Hundreds of Denver comics also performed there, with nationally touring acts such as Ben Roy and Andrew Orvedahl (Cayton-Holland’s Grawlix partners) and crushers such as Josh Blue, Janae Burris, Troy Walker, and Christie Buchele.
“Obviously this was a hard decision in a lot of ways, but itap time for our team to move on to new projects and let the young blood of Denver and national comedy bring this city the next great thing,” the announcement said. “We’ll be taking the next few months to say goodbye. We want to see your favorite pics from High Plains over the years, so post ‘em and tag us or email them to info@highplainscomedy.com.”
High Plains Comedy Festival will host one last official party — “a blowout show,” as they called it — on Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Skylark Lounge on South Broadway. A lineup and ticketing info is forthcoming.
“We got soooo lucky with some of our faves coming back,” organizers added.
The fest’s closure arrives as Cayton-Holland continues to climb the national entertainment ladder. His book “Tragedy Plus Time: A Tragi-Comic Memoir,” was adapted into a film, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The comedy-drama, which stars Cooper Raiff, David Duchovny, Lucy Boynton and Kaitlyn Dever, does not currently have a theatrical or streaming date.
Losing High Plains is a significant blow to Colorado’s comedy scene, which still counts top-notch clubs such as Comedy Works, a location of The Improv chain, and independent improv and stand-up havens such as Rise Comedy. Rise, in fact, is , in the Ballpark neighborhood in downtown Denver.
That makes events such as that, the Boulder Comedy Festival and the Vail Comedy Festival, all of which were founded after High Plains, even more valuable to comedy fans.
Sustaining as a festival is tough, especially an independent one that counts on sponsorships to attract and maintain top talent, Cayton-Holland has said in the past. High Plains over the years enjoyed flagship support from Illegal Pete’s, truTV (the network that aired “Those Who Can’t), and others as the festival subtly filled a void created by the loss of Aspen’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in 2007.
They also weathered a pandemic that pushed live comedy off stage due to safety concerns (laughing hard for 2 hours? That’s a super spreader event), and the rise and fall of well-funded Denver comedy boosters such as Sexpot Comedy, the upstart Southwest Chief festival in Trinidad, and the creation of a Front Range pipeline of shows and venues for visiting performers, stretching from Fort Collins’ The Fort to Trinidad on the New Mexico border.
At High Plains, every comic was individually invited, making it one of the more difficult but also rewarding events in the stand-up world. Being there, in other words, was a badge of honor.
“This is extremely sad news but thank you for all the fun and laughter you’ve brought to us these last 13 years,” wrote Denver comedy super-fan Dave Caldwell, who attended every High Plains event, . “I’ve discovered some of my absolute favorite comedians at the festival. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.”
