Atlanta Comic Scores Big Win at National Festival
Atlanta’s own Landry won the 2011 Boston Comedy Festival.
The Boston Comedy Festival is one of the biggest comedy festivals in the country, and this year an Atlanta comic won the whole thing. Landry, who was also named Atlanta’s Best Comic at last year’s Atlanta Stands Up Awards, took top prize as the prestigious competition, and recently spoke with CL about the experience and what he hopes to come out of the win.
Tell me about the festival and the win?
It was just crazy man. I did the World Series of Comedy back in September and finished in 2nd place there, so I had good momentum going into Boston. I really felt like I had a good enough set to win the World Series of Comedy and just came up a little short, so I just got really motivated and started writing new material. Most of the material I did at the boston Comedy Festival was new stuff that I had just been doing for about a month. My goal was just to make the finals, but obviously winning the whole thing was amazing.
- http://clatl.com/atlanta/ImageArchives?by=1223504
- Landry on stage at the Boston Comedy Festival
How many rounds were there, and how long of a set did you get to perform in each round?
There were three rounds. The first round we got five minutes, then for the semi-finals everyone got to do eight minutes, and then for the finals it went back down to five minutes a piece.
How many festivals and competitions do you try to do a year?
Well this year I’ve done three - the World Series of Comedy, the Asheville Comedy Festival and now the Boston Comedy Festival.
What did you win, and what are you hoping will come out of this as a result?
Well there was $10,000 in prize money that the finalists split, and I’m getting a lot of work out of it. I got 21 weeks of work out of the World Series of Comedy, and the festivals always help you get work, but I’m basically just going to take this credit, now that I finally have a credit, and try to move on to my next goal, which is the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival.
Who did you meet at the Boston Comedy Festival that you were excited about meeting?
Oh man, Bill Burr! He’s my favorite comic. Like, he’s the one that made me want to do this comedy, and he was getting an award for Comedian of the Year the same night that I won the festival, so for me that was like, ‘whoa.’
What are your next immediate plans?
I’m actually flying up to Canada for two weeks to do some weekends at this comedy chain up there called Yuk Yuk’s.
Where do you like to perform when you’re back in Atlanta?
Well I’m out of town at least two weeks of every month, but the Punchline is definitely my home club. I’m the type of comedian that, I’ll do any room in the city, but the Punchline is definitely where I got the stage time that got me to where I am now.