A campus for comedians

Skidmore is one funny campus. For more than three decades, Skidmore has hosted the National College Comedy Festival, a campus tradition for aspiring comedians and anyone who enjoys a good laugh.  

Popularly known as ComFest, the 34th annual show was held at Skidmore’s Janet King Bernhard Theater in February and again brought a gaggle of student comedians and professional stand-ups together to fill the theater with laughter.  

Comedy groups from New York University, Brown University, Emerson College, Northeastern University, University of Toronto, and elsewhere shared the floor with Ad-Libs, Sketchies, and Skidomedy, three Skidmore student clubs dedicated to comedy. 

Both nights of ComFest started with student groups and finished with a professional act. This year, that included Marina Franklin, known for her comedy special “Single Black Female,” and Chris Fleming ’09, a Skidmore graduate famous for his YouTube show “Gayle” and named by Variety as one of its “10 Comics to Watch for.” It was certainly a weekend to remember as audience members enjoyed jokes and routines that ranged from a promposal at a funeral to vegan chowder at Saratoga ChowderFest (a winter tradition for Skidmore students and popular event in downtown Saratoga Springs).  

Skidmore has long been a popular choice for aspiring comedians. ComFest was co-founded in the late 1980s by Skidmore alum David Miner ’91, who went on to earn Emmys for “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Among the festival’s previous performers are Skidmore’s Michael Zegen ’01 of the Emmy-winning Amazon Prime show “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and cast and writers of shows like “Bob’s Burgers,” “The Office,” “Community,” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” (If you’re interested in learning about academic aspects of comedy, you might also consider taking a course with Skidmore’s own Beck Krefting. A former stand-up comedian, the professor of American studies has published widely on humor, among other topics.)

Elise Milner ’25, an art major from Bristol, Rhode Island, participated in ComFest for the first time this winter with Skidomedy. Performing with Skidomedy was an opportunity to add sketch comedy to her repertoire that already included stand-up and improv. 

“I like seeing people make creative choices when acting out a sketch. We read out sketches and it's funny. But when they are acted out, they can end up being 10 times funnier," she said. "I also like the community of the group. We all have different senses of humor that mesh together in a cool way.”

As for her first experience in ComFest: “It was really fun. I like the week leading up to our shows. It can be a lot because we meet up every night of the week, but our group gets closer each time, and it's cool seeing our sketches come to life.”