Dallas comedy scene continues to grow

by Pablo Arauz of North Texas Daily

• Tweet
• Email
• Print
• 1 Comment

Former UNT student Paul Varghese recently recorded a performance for Comedy Central.

When it comes to the entertainment industry, the comedy scene in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is more vibrant than ever before.

The business of making people laugh is nothing new, but the local comedy scene’s sense of family is something particular to North Texas.

There is a tightly knit community of comedians in the area, said Nathan Guerra, a local comedian and Lewisville native.

“Being a comedian is simple but so frightening, which is why you have got to be kind of crazy to do it,” he said.

From college to the comedy club

UNT alumnus Paul Varghese graduated with the class of 2000 for film studies and is now a well-known performer in the local comedy scene.

Varghese started in 2001 when he took a standard writing workshop at the Addison Improv Comedy Club and had his first performance that summer.

“I never considered it a career option,” he said. “I was a year out of school, I wanted to do production and stuff. I just did it for something to do and I just kind of stuck with it.”

Varghese’s situation as a comedian is more recognized than others, as he has done comedy full time since 2005. Recently, he recorded a performance for Comedy Central.

Varghese stays local to his Denton roots, performing at the UNT Lyceum and former Denton clubs The Fourth Wall and The Hole in the Wall in years past.

Varghese said the local comedy activity has been growing more in the 10 years since he began performing. He said a lot of it could be due to the supportive atmosphere that is recognized in the area.

“We’re one of the only cities where comics will actually come up to you and give you advice,” he said. “It’s almost like a team vibe — you’ll notice that we’re like a bunch of cousins just kind of hanging out.”

A growing hub of laughter

Comedian Patricia Sweeney moved to Dallas from New Hampshire about seven months ago and began working at Hyena’s Comedy Club at Mockingbird Station. She said that while she gained a following back home, she came to Dallas solely to practice the craft of comedy.

“It’s a comfortable scene to start out with. If the other comedians want to give you advice, they will give it to you,” Sweeney said.

As for the area’s comedy scene in the future, Sweeney said there’s no telling where it can go in the future.

“Every open mic, there is a new self-proclaimed comedian, and then there are the regulars, and they’re so good, you get into it and you can say ‘I can probably do that,’” she said. “I really don’t know where it’s going to go, but it’s comforting.”

Tweet