Dirty South Improv hosts N.C. Comedy Arts Festival at the Varsity Theatre

A monthlong annual comedy festival continued Thursday with jokes about everything from N.C. State University basketball to Twitter to parenthood.

And the laughs were always loud.

Dirty South Improv Comedy Theater, located in Carrboro, held the second event of the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival at the Varsity Theatre on Thursday. The show featured two sketch comedy acts and a film.

Varsity owner Paul Shareshian said this is the second year the theater has hosted a part of the festival.

But this year’s event was the first to feature both short films and sketch acts.

“We have a great relationship with the festival, and I’m really excited to see the new stuff,” he said.

More than 500 comedians will participate in the festival’s 11th year, which began Wednesday and will last through Feb. 20. The festival is sponsored solely by local businesses.

Events range in price from $10 to $14 for the general public. Two acts will be featured on UNC’s campus Feb. 19 and will cost $5 for students.

Though the event was North Carolina-based, acts came from across North America, with three coming from Canada.

Camp Woods, a five-person comedy troupe from Philadelphia, performed a sketch act featuring homemade props and extravagant costumes.

“We have a weird, surreal style,” said Patrick Foy, a member of Camp Woods. “It ranges from silly to really dark.”

The members all have day jobs, but met through the music scene in Philadelphia.

Sharon House, a Chapel Hill resident, came to the festival to support her friend Zannie Gunn, whose film was presented.

House said she had never seen a live comedy performance before.

But a first experience for her — and the Varsity — was enjoyable, she said.

Joseph Keasler, another friend of Gunn’s, said he too is interested in filmmaking.

“I loved it, but I though Zannie’s film was the best,” he said. “I laughed the hardest at that part.”

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