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photo provided by Canton Comedy Boom
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photo provided by Canton Comedy Boom
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photo provided by Canton Comedy Boom
At the Daily Pressed in Akron, Tuesday night means laughter. The coffee and cocktail bar serves as the home of a regular open mic night hosted by K.C. Curry, one of the founders of Canton Comedy Boom — an organization that produces, supports and curates comedy performances in and around the Akron and Canton areas.
“It’s a very encouraging environment, whether you’re going up for the first time or you’re a newer comic,” says Lydia Carmany, a comic and co-founder of Canton Comedy Boom. “Sometimes, we get people who’ve been doing it for years.”
One by one, comedians, amateur and seasoned alike, step onto the venue’s raised stage, grab the microphone and give it their all. From humorous anecdotes about teaching to deadpan one-liners, there’s a wide range of performance styles on display. Audience returns vary, of course, but one thing stays consistent — at this open mic, people support each other.
“I love the art form because it allows people to be vulnerable with an audience as themselves but also evokes a joy that a lot of people can share,” Carmany says, “which can be especially good as an escape but also as a mental health help.”
Founded in 2023, Canton Comedy Boom hosts upcoming events, including a free First Friday show June 7 at Patina Arts Centre, a queer comedy show June 8 at Patina and open mic nights at Karma Social June 3 and 17. Its offerings also include headliner shows and workshops. Featuring a lineup of diverse comics doing improv, sketch comedy, standup and more, Canton Comedy Boom fills a gap in Northeast Ohio’s comedy scene, Carmany says.
“About two years ago, I realized that Canton didn’t have a venue for comedy. It didn’t even have open mics,” Carmany recalls. “I also … met some comedians, and I realized that females were very underrepresented in standup.”
Canton Comedy Boom began with performances by a group of comics known as Females of Comedy — formed to combat that lack of representation. Carmany is part of the group, telling jokes that intentionally evoke awkwardness.
“We did a few Females of Comedy shows in 2022, and then we started hosting open mics at Patina,” Carmany says. “It grew exponentially from there. … We’re bookers and producers of shows all over Northeast Ohio, and mostly a curator of performances meant to diversify comedy and foster an inclusive and exploratory environment for local comics.”
It’s evident that inclusivity is at the forefront of Canton Comedy Boom’s productions — it recently hosted shows focusing on autism awareness and sobriety. The group sets ground rules for both performers and audiences to ensure the environment remains welcoming to all.
“Comedy is an avenue for people to learn,” Carmany says, “while they laugh.”
The group didn’t have to guess whether audiences would be receptive to their approach — the community showed up.
“We’ll have some people that will come to the same shows over and over, but a lot of our shows will be almost a completely new audience,” Carmany says. “It seems that people really do like seeing representation of different walks of life. … A lot of our shows work as fundraisers or donation drives for local nonprofits, so we will keep going as long as there’s an audience and comics who want to be on our stage.”
Carmany and the team behind Canton Comedy Boom are coaxing laughter from audiences — and helping fellow comedians conquer the stage.
“We taught a comedy workshop for a group of teenagers,” Carmany recalls, “and one of them came to watch our free First Friday show later that week. He asked if he could go up onstage and do a set … it was his first time performing in front of an audience, and he absolutely killed it. He was hilarious. That’s the kind of thing that we like to see.”
cantoncomedyboom.com
