Fountain City Comedy Festival expands in year four to venues across town
Fountain City Comedy Festival 2025
Comedy is returning to Kansas City in a big way in mid-October. From Oct. 22–25, the Fountain City Comedy Festival comes back home for its fourth year, offering four nights of neighborhood-hopping laughs and a showcase of local and national talent.
The festival will feature 20 shows across 10 meaningful venues, including recordBar, The Ship, El Torreon, to name a few. With each night focusing on a different neighborhood, guests can easily navigate the city and delight in the live comedy. Wednesday features the 18th & Vine Jazz District with laughs at The Gem Theater, Thursday will be in Midtown, Friday will take place in the West Bottoms, and it wraps up in the Crossroads on Saturday. The Kansas City Streetcar expansion launches the same weekend, giving attendees easy transportation between venues each night.
Festival director, Stephen Taylor is proud to put on another weekend full of excitement through laughter, eager for the new renditions to the festival, while also staying committed to what made its name.
“It’s grown every year and taken a bunch of different shapes, but the core thing has stayed intact. Independent venues, independent businesses support it, and we bring comics in to show them the best parts of Kansas City,” he says.
The lineup is packed with 50 of the best comedians nationwide, including Aaron Branch, a Kansas City native known for his work on Netflix’s Unstable and Online with Kevin Langue. Branch will headline the opening night at The Gem Theater, with his friend Ryan Davis opening the show. Other headliners include Ahren Belisle from America’s Got Talent, Heather Shaw, who has performed with Mark Normand and Eric Andre, Eddie Pepitone, who has appeared on Conan, Kyle Ayers, Chloe Radcliffe, and Jay Jurden from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“In the past, it felt like a community collection of shows,” Taylor says. “This year, we wanted it to feel like a true festival, something where you can walk, hang out with your friends, and explore a whole neighborhood while discovering great comedy.”
Taylor revels in the fact that the comedic events are not just for your average Joe who wants to crack a few jokes, but rather an incredibly strenuous process to vet the best possible acts.
“We watch about 400 submission videos from across the country, around 30 hours of stand-up, and grade them on material and stage presence. It’s grueling, but we do it because we love it and we want the best comics we can find,” says Taylor.
This careful curation ensures that each of the shows are singular, giving headliners and emerging comics alike the chance to put on their best performance.
“Every show features both national names and up-and-coming comics. If one name draws a big crowd, we want those newer voices to have that same platform. Sometimes those are the comics we can’t even book the next year because they’ve blown up,” Taylor says.
Another key part of the festival’s success is its strong community support, as the sponsor make-up comes from locals MADE MOBB, West Bottoms Whiskey, Visit KC, and Director’s Cut Barbershop. “Everything we do is community supported, local businesses, local artists, local audiences. It’s not corporate-backed, and that’s what keeps it genuine,” Taylor says.
The festival also offers a refreshing alternative to the social media-driven comedy world.
“Some people with huge online followings don’t get in, and someone with 700 followers might. It’s not about followers; it’s about who’s funny. The festival reminds people that comedy is meant to be discovered in real life, not just on your feed,” says Taylor.
With happy hours, after-parties featuring live music, and a lineup that celebrates hysterical laughter in all its forms, the Fountain City Comedy Festival offers a joyous weekend that stays firmly rooted in making top-notch comedy available to Kansas Citians.
Tickets and weekend passes are available, with more information on the event’s website.
