BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Pinske’s Rising Tide is bringing the laughs to the Bellows Falls Opera House on Thursday, May 21, with a high-energy regional comedy showcase featuring 15 comics, two featured performers, and a headliner, all in one night.
The show is built around a rapid-fire format: Each open-mic comic gets three minutes to deliver their best material, keeping the energy up and the audience locked in from start to finish. Hosting commentary for the first half will be provided by a three-person panel of Barre Pinske, Aaron Richter, and Mindy Bean, keeping the night loose and conversational between sets. Featured comics Bitsy Biron, of Springfield, Vt., and Nathaniel Allen, of Laconia, N.H., will round out the lineup before Boston’s Sarah May closes the show as headliner.
Dummerston-based musician Josh Allen will warm up the crowd before the laughs begin.
The showcase grew out of two years of relationship-building across the regional comedy scene by Chester artist and comedian Barre Pinske. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how funny, nice, and supportive of each other the comics really are — wherever I go,” Pinske said. Last December, Pinske opened Rising Tide, a performance space inside his Chester gallery. Comics have been traveling more than an hour to attend the open mics. “I thought it would be cool to bring my new friends to the big stage,” he said.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item to support the Chester Food Shelf. Tickets are available at the door.