The fifth annual Baltimore Comedy Festival (BCF) brings comedy to the city after a pandemic hiatus. This year BCF has scaled back for safety, but brings more than 50 professional comedians from nearby Baltimore for six days of showcases at multiple venues around the city. Motor House in Station North will serve as the festival headquarters. Full schedule and list of venues available at  www.baltimorecomedyfestival.com

As the BCF headquarters, Motor House will host the opening night party and opening ceremony showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 1st, as well as two premiere showcases, Thursday Sept. 2nd 8PM, and SheMore Funny Thursday Sept. 2nd 9:30PM. The closing party is Sept. 6th at The Sidebar, 218 E Lexington St, Baltimore, MD 21202. Many BCF events are free; the premiere showcases and events with tickets range from $10-$30.

Tori Muñoz, Motor House Director of Operations shared, “We are thrilled to have made it through COVID to celebrate another Baltimore Comedy Festival. We are becoming a top venue for comedy in Baltimore because of Ivan Martin, founder of the Baltimore Comedy Festival. Every Wednesday he and his team hosts the ‘Art of Comedy’, the city’s most vibrant open mic comedy night, at our venue.” Motor House and Ivan Martin were featured on Comedy Central’s ‘Kevin Hart Presents: “Hart of the City”, which aired July 2019.

Central to Motor House’s role as a comedy hot-spot is Professional/International Comedian Ivan Martin, founder and curator of the Baltimore Comedy Festival. Martin, a U.S Navy Veteran and Jacksonville, FL native has been performing stand-up for 15 years. Since arriving to Baltimore ten years ago, Martin has focused on promoting diversity in the comedy scene through the ‘Art of Comedy’ open mic as well as curated shows at Mt. Vernon Marketplace, Union Collective, Hotel Indigo, and more. Recent credits include: opening for Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart, Comedy Central’s “Hart of the City”, Comedy Central’s webseries’ “#YouDidn’tWantToKnow” and “#ExtraDamnDay”. In addition to organizing and curating BCF, he helped establish the DC Comedy Festival, which has just turned three.

“We all know what happened to our Comedy Scene with the impact of COVID, this year’s festival is most definitely about the resilience of the funny within the comedians of the city. Now is really the time to SHOW them off and show the city what talent really resides here” Martin says. “We are still a friendly and welcoming scene. Since spaces have reopened for performances I’m seeing more camaraderie amongst comedians than I’ve ever seen before…That really makes me smile”

Additional Baltimore Comedy Festival venues include:

Baltimore Museum of Industry

Showroom & Theatre at Motor House

Old Line Brewery

Mother’s Federal Hill Grille

The Crown

The Lou Room at Zissimo’s

Above the Bar Comedy at St. Mary’s Restaurant

The Sidebar

About Motor House Motor House is a creative crossroads rooted in the culture of Baltimore. We are a non-profit arts hub, gallery, and performance space that encourages new visions, bold experiments, and emerging voices to celebrate the artistry of our city. Motor House boasts two performance spaces, the Showroom bar, and art gallery on the first floor as well as second-floor artists studios for 15 resident artists, third-floor offices for seven non-profit arts organizations. Motor House is adjacent to Graffiti Alley, the only legal place for artists to create street art.

Motor House is at 120 W. North Ave., Baltimore MD 21201 www.motorhousebaltimore.com