History
In 2021, during the 8th Annual Santa Cruz Comedy Festival, the world had shut down due to pandemic. The festival was held in a parking lot, with attendees sitting in their cars. Our headliners that year – Laurie Kilmartin, Dave Ross, Kevin Camia, and Merrill Davis – performed on a makeshift stage, as ashes rained down on them. The mountains of Santa Cruz were on fire. That year we raised $1000 for the Ben Lomond Volunteer Fire Department. It was weird. It was surreal. It reeked of foreboding.
The Die Was Cast
Everything has been leading up to this year’s festival. Everything. All of history’s greatest achievements: The Great Wall, The Pyramids, Stonehenge, and LOST were all clues to this moment in time. It happened suddenly. An alien invasion. It wasn’t just how gruesome they looked, it was the implications. If we’re not alone in the Universe, who else is out there? Was all of our tech, just a way to enslave us to our tentacled overlords? Who will save us?
Enter The Heroes.
The 2024 Santa Cruz Comedy Festival has figured out our captor’s weak spot. No. It’s not the flu or water. It’s laughter. Those ding-dong aliens are humorless. They don’t get it. They can’t control it. It pisses them off. Welcome our alien busters – Beth Stelling, Natasha Leggero, Amy Miller, Moshe Kasher, Sam Miller and Doug Benson (plus 60 more), The 11th Annual Santa Cruz Comedy Festival isn’t just another event, it’s the salvation of humanity. Fight Evil. Laugh. Laugh loud. Laugh proud.