It started out, appropriately enough, as a joke. Matt Kemple had only been in Milwaukee a year when he and some members of the scattered Milwaukee comedy scene banded together for “one big show” at the old Bucketworks space on Third and McKinley. To bring a bit of sarcastic legitimacy to the event, it was jokingly branded as The First Annual Milwaukee Comedy and Improv Festival. A decade later, the Milwaukee Comedy Festival is the state’s premier comedy event. Recently, Kemple sat down with Off the Cuff to talk comedy, Milwaukee and making jokes in crazy times.
When did you first realize you were funny?
[Laughs] I don’t necessarily think I am funny. But, I got my sense of humor … a lot of it really came from my uncle. My Uncle Moe, as a little kid we’d go visit them on the East Coast and after we’d get all settled down, he’d call me over and he’d have like, three or four new jokes for me. So, it was always really exciting for me to see him and he’d always tell me jokes. And as I got older, the jokes got dirtier.
How has the Milwaukee comedy scene changed since you’ve been doing the festival?
It’s changed a lot. In those early years especially, the festival was almost needed just so that people would know that there was comedy happening. The open mic scene is really what changed a lot of things. There used to be one open mic in town, once a month, at the Safe House. Now, we’re in a place where there is an open mic virtually every night of the week, which is extraordinary for people who are looking for a place to try to do comedy and to meet other funny people and to have that community.
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This has been a year with terrible tragedies occurring almost weekly. Is it harder to be funny in times like these?
This is exactly why we need to laugh, because there is so much crazy happening in the world and there are so many people who are angry and upset. I feel like as horrible as everything has been, people need to come together and laugh more than ever. There is a lot of debate over “when is it too soon” to make a joke about what has happened. I’m always willing to laugh at them if they truly are funny because that is part of the healing process. There has to be a way for people to come together and move past [these tragedies], and I think laughter is one of the more positive ways to do that. Laughing and happiness are the only emotions I can think of that unite people in just as large a number as hate.
The 11th Annual Milwaukee Comedy Festival runs Aug. 3-6 at the Next Act Theatre with headliner Jen Kirkman closing the festival on Sunday, Aug. 7 at Turner Hall Ballroom. For more info see milwaukeecomedy.com.
