When local comedian Tim Northern came up the idea of a stand-up comedy festival in Louisville, he gave it his name only as a place holder. But all the comics were like: No, were going to keep it, he said. And The Tim Northern Comedy Festival was born, the first of what hopes to be an annual event. Headline shows will be at The Caravan, with more intimate showcases at The Bards Town, Wicks in The Highlands, Kaiju and Play. The lineups include the best regional comics and talent. If theyre going to support comedy, Northern said. Then we want to support them in return. He called in from the road to discuss the festival, comedy and more.
LEO: You seem to write material with one particular theme in mind. What have you been thinking about lately?
Tim Northern: Ive still been working a lot on fairy tales. Like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Hes not the problem the townspeople are the problem. Every time someone cries wolf, they are supposed to come out. Every time. The one time they didnt there was a wolf. The first time he cried, they should have just fired him. They shouldve been like: You obviously dont know what a wolf looks like, do you?
You have said before you try not to have a point of view. But isnt a comedians job to have a point of view?
No. My job is to make you laugh. Thats it. It isnt my job to have a point a view. The point of my job is to make you laugh. Not tell you what I think about so and so. Some people can do that, and Im fine with that. Im sure I could do that, too, but I dont want to. And its not about alienating the crowd. I dont care who I alienate. Its just that my job is to make you laugh, and I take that very seriously …
After doing this for so long, do you ever still get afraid of bombing on stage?
Every time I get on stage. Every single minute Im up there. Because I care. You better be nervous. People who say they arent nervous are either lying, or theyre just very egotistical. I dont want to waste peoples time. And if you arent nervous about wasting peoples time, then youre just arrogant. Arrogant with talent, maybe, but arrogant.
Tell me where the idea for The Tim Northern Comedy Festival hatched.
I wanted to do a festival in Louisville. I knew that we had a lot of talent here that we needed to showcase. Not to steal Trumps campaign slogan, but we want to Make Louisville Funny Again. We want people to know that not only is comedy still here in Louisville. But it never left. And I know there are a lot of comedy fans in Louisville. Im just not sure they know exactly where to find it. So we chose all of these places that already host regular comedy shows …
… I hear from people all of the time. Im huge fan of stand-up comedy, but Ive never been to a live comedy show. And that blows my mind. But its because of TV. They see these big over-produced theater shows, and they think thats what stand-up is … If people really are fans of comedy, they have to realize that you have to go where its happening, not just watch someones latest special.
THE TIM NORTHERN COMEDY FESTIVAL Thursday, June 1-4
The Caravan 1250 Bardstown Road
laughingderby.com
Kaiju 1004 E. Oak St.
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The Bards Town
1801 Bardstown Road
thebardstown.com/events
Play 1101 E. Washington St.
playdancebar.com
Wicks Pizza in The Highlands 975 Baxter Ave.
wickspizza.com/Events/
Tickets for all venues, other than The Caravan, can be purchased in advance at Eventbrite.com.
This article appears in May 31, 2017.