Laughs for days
Bevy of comics perform at Hampton Beach Comedy Festival
More than two dozen top-echelon comics are scheduled to perform during Jimmy Dunn’s Hampton Beach Comedy Festival, going on now through Sunday, Aug. 21, with shows nightly at The Back Hideaway, an open-air deck at McGuirk’s Ocean View Hotel and Restaurant on Hampton Beach’s Ocean Boulevard.
Dunn is one of a crop of successful comics who cut their teeth in greater Boston clubs and rose to national prominence. Dunn said that in 2009 he first invited some comedian friends to his oceanfront home to flip steaks on the backyard grill and later head to Ashworth by the Sea to perform a couple of sets. Those first few events featured one or two performers along with Dunn. Thirteen years later, the occasion has grown into a five-day festival featuring some 25 seasoned stand-up artists.
“I used to have to call people and ask them to perform,” Dunn said, speaking from his Seacoast office. “Now, they call me.”
Scheduled to appear at the festival Thursday night are Tony V, Tony’s son Gus V, Janet McNamara, Mark Riley, Steve Bjork and Will Noonan.
Friday night, you can catch Dan Boulger, Mike Whitman, Dan Crohn, Karen Morgan, Jason Merrill and Dan Donahue.
Saturday night’s bill features Kathy Gilmour, Ryan Gartley, Dan Miller, Andrew Della Volpe and Ken Rogerson.
The festival concludes Sunday with Tom Clark, James Dorsey, Carolyn Plummer, Graig Murphy and Kelly MacFarland.
Each night, Dunn will host and Boston comic Dave Rattigan will also perform.
“It’s a showcase format with short sets and stand-ups presenting their best stuff. It packs a whole lot of great comedy into a short time,” Dunn said. “The cost to see this kind of talent is a bargain, and the amphitheater setting at McGuirk’s is perfect. It couldn’t be more Hampton Beach.”
Dunn got his start in comedy performing in smaller clubs around Boston and hosting sports entertainment shows on the New England Sports Network (NESN), where his style of Boston-inflected humor and takes on local teams was a hit. He made his national television debut in 2014 on the Late Show with David Letterman. Appearances with Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel followed. He also co-starred in the CBS comedy series The McCarthys, playing the droll Sean McCarthy, an adult son in a Boston Irish-Catholic family.
“The role called for a fat dumb guy who likes sandwiches. That guy was basically the real me,” Dunn said.
The Hampton Beach Comedy Festival is a chance for Dunn to return to his roots. He grew up in Hampton, working quintessential summer jobs at the beach — washing dishes at Sea Ketch, parking cars at the Ashworth, working in the arcade.
“When I was a kid I’d ride my bicycle to be at work washing dishes by noon,” he said. “After work we’d hang outside the Casino and listen to the bands. It was such a colorful scene and a great place to grow up.”
Dunn knew he wanted to be a comic by age 13 when he worked the Roll-A-Ball horse racing game. Customers competed against each other for prizes by bowling small balls into holes that advanced their miniature tin horse down a track.
“I had a microphone like a carny, and I’d call each race,” he said. “I discovered I could make a crowd laugh. I’d heckle people, and I’d get heckled too. I loved it.”
— Curt Mackail
Hampton Beach Comedy Festival
Where: The Back Hideaway at McGuirk’s Ocean View Hotel and Restaurant, 95 Ocean Blvd., Hampton Beach
When: Wednesday, Aug. 17, through Sunday, Aug. 21, with shows nightly starting at 8 p.m., doors at 6 p.m.
Tickets: $20, available at the door or online. Seating is general admission.
More info: hamptonbeachcomedy.weebly.com
In case of inclement weather, the festival shows will be called by 2 p.m. the day of the event. Canceled tickets will be refunded. Check the festival’s Facebook page, facebook.com/ hamptonbeachcomedy, for weather updates.
Featured photo: Mr. Aaron’s Band will be performing on stage before, during and after the parade. Courtesy photo.
