Nights of laughs: Evan Galpert brings personal stories to comedy for Albuquerque Funny Fiesta
Sep. 20—Evan Galpert and comedy seem to go hand-in-hand.
The Santa Fe-based comedian isn't afraid to get on stage and bear his soul to find a humorous connection.
In fact, he loves it.
"The first time I ever tried my own jokes was at an open mic at Cowgirl in Santa Fe," he says. "I was like 15. The only time I had been on stage before was during school talent shows. At that time, I had stolen some Bill Engvall jokes and made them my own."
Today, it's a different story.
Galpert will be one of more than a dozen comedians converging at various locations around town for Albuquerque Funny Fiesta.
The festival kicked off on Sept. 21 and runs through Sunday, Sept. 24.
Venues include Dry Heat Comedy Club, The Box Performance Space, InsideOut, North 4th Art Center, The Kosmos, and Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts.
Notable guests include Tyler Jackson, Greg James, Sammy Mowrey, Tyler Corbine, Ryan Rogers and headliner Kate Willett.
Galpert will perform with Wayward Comedy at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, at The Box Performance Space.
On Friday, Sept. 22, he will join his wife, Gigi Bella, on stage as she performs during the fiesta.
Gigi Bella will perform her one-woman show for the last time in Albuquerque.
"I'm taking it to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival," she says. "I've got some endorsements from the head writer of the 'Golden Girls' and Greg Sestero of 'The Disaster Artist' and 'The Room.' "
Galpert's comedy set includes stories about himself.
"It's all real and I don't make up stories," he says. "I like to reveal something about myself to an audience so they know a little bit about me before I'm off the stage. It's been pretty fun to dive deep into some dark stuff and find the humor in it. When it gets said on stage, then it's not harboring dark space in my brain anymore."
Galpert also likes delivering his stories through funny voices — a way to take the edge off.
"I'm working on finding out how to walk that line of finding the funny in things that aren't inherently funny," he says.
