When comedian and Good Times contributor DNA left Santa Cruz for his second hometown of Chico after nearly 20 years locally, many hailed it as the death of his long-running Santa Cruz Comedy Festival.
Which it was, and that’s the end of that.
OK, just kidding. Kind of. While the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival as we once knew it might not be returning for its 12th year, this weekend DNA and fellow local comedian Michael Booth will host the inaugural Laughtopus at Woodhouse Brewery.
“It’s fun to be able to create a community,” Booth explains. “I’m lucky to be connected and have access to a network of comedians.”
A rebranding of sorts, the Laughtopus is presented by the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival as a smaller, more condensed way for Santa Cruzans to get their yearly festy laughs.
Along with the hosts, each night will feature a different group of local and Bay Area comedians: Megan Kellie, Ryan Holloway, Colin Cosados and Rea Kapur are on the bill Oct. 4; BJ Rankin, Avery Harmon, Emily Rudolph and Ashley Monique perform Oct. 4. Headlining the nights are two returning favorites from previous DNA shows, Valerie Tosi and Myq Kaplan.
Kaplan has played Santa Cruz on several occasions, including DNA’s Vegan Comedy show.
Prior to the 2020 lockdowns, Tosi headlined DNA’s ill-fated Comedy Lab. A veteran to the comedy scene, Tosi is a graduate from the Los Angeles chapter of the Second City improv comedy troupe. Her 2022 debut special, Beach Trash, reached number one on the iTunes charts, and she’s made appearances on other shows, including Peacock’s Based on a True Story and IFC’s Stan Against Evil. Tosi has been featured on a number of podcasts and her voice can be heard narrating online shows like Weird Food History on YouTube.
She is also the host of the Mermaid Comedy Hour, the longest-running, all-female comedy show at the Hollywood Improv.
“For the last couple of years people have asked if there’s a need for an all-female show anymore,” she says. “But looking around at the current political climate I think it’s needed now more than ever.”
More than just empty platitudes, Tosi stands up for the causes she believes in. Scanning her social media, there’s plenty of photos of her protesting at various causes, from standing up against ICE to recently marching outside Walt Disney Studios to reinstate Jimmy Kimmel. In her own words it’s something she “can’t not do.”
“We use humor as a tool to move through different emotions,” she says. “Not just anger and fear, but grief. I think we’re all grieving a country that we didn’t know was capable of getting to the point where it is and we’re not even at rock bottom yet.”
Which is one of the reasons why DNA says Santa Cruz needed to have a new comedy fest.
“Besides the name, I wanted Laughtopus to be different,” he explains. “I wanted to go small this year. One thing I tell all new producers in the region is that putting on shows is gambling. You’re putting money up and you might not get that money back.”
So instead of curating Laughtopus himself, DNA instead chose the headliners and gave the task of filling the other slots to his co-host, who also runs regular shows throughout the area.
“Michael is still in that world of new comedians and he puts them on regularly,” DNA says. “He knows how to build a good show. You can’t be a better comic unless you’re on stage, and he’s on stage as much as he can be.”
It’s a role Booth took on voluntarily.
“With DNA moving away and things being uncertain, a couple of us have taken on the tradition [of producing local shows] and kept the vibe,” he says, speaking of the Santa Cruz comedy scene.
“That’s how all this exists. We all either started it or took it over,” he continues. “It’s all people getting events started or keeping them going with quality so they can last for years like the Blue Lagoon or Mountain Brewery shows.”
So while this might be the inaugural Laughtopus event, if all goes well it most certainly won’t be the last. But that all depends on whether or not Santa Cruz comes out to support it.
“I have this ember of an idea for the festival,” DNA says. “And last year—for me—that ember really dimmed. Now it’s a quest for fire. I have some brush, I have this ember and I’m blowing on it to start this fire again.”
Laughtopus begins at 7pm on Oct. 3–4 at Woodhouse Blending and Brewing, 119 Madrone St., Santa Cruz. $25 adv/$30 door. 831-313-9461.
