Comic James Mattern is known as a top NYC emcee and TV warm-up: quick, authentic, eternally unfazed. Surely, he’s a longtime vet of the emergent Coachella of uncensored comedy that’s otherwise known as Skankfest.
“They tried to book me the first couple of years,” Mattern, originally from Las Vegas, recalls. “And I couldn’t because I was working on a Game of Thrones show that would go on live right after the episodes.” Even last year, the annual festival’s first time in Las Vegas, “I was booked, but I pulled out two weeks before because I was opening for Chris Distefano in Europe.”
Mattern finally makes the lineup this weekend at Fremont Street’s Notoriety complex, joining the seventh Skankfest lineup with four spots alongside 106 A-list comedians and podcasters including Roseanne Barr, Drew Pinsky reuniting with Loveline co-host Adam Carolla, Whitney Cummings, Brendan Schaub, Mark Normand, Tim Dillon, Jay Oakerson and festival co-founder Luis J. Gomez.
“Plus a couple of sick drop-ins” promises co-founder Rebecca Trent, “and 62 up and coming, local and new and nasty comedians performing in 134 shows.”
At least a dozen performers hail from Vegas. Presale tickets sold out this spring before lineups were announced.
Skankfest Return to Vegas runs September 29 through October 1, with an additional VIP kickoff party for presale buyers September 28 at Backstage Bar & Billiards with a special musical guest. Last year, it was Everlast. Jelly Roll dropped in later; he’s currently touring with his Skankfest Vegas discovery the Goddamn Comedy Jam as openers.
The festival’s path to Vegas has covered 3,000-plus miles. In spring 2016, Gomez emailed co-founders Trent and Christine Evans, informing them “We are doing a festival called Skankfest. That is all.”
Gomez’s NYC-based “Legion of Skanks” podcast—dubbed “the Most Offensive Podcast on Earth”—lent its notoriety to a successful DIY collaboration just six weeks later. Trent’s The Creek and the Cave venue in Long Island City, Queens, hosted early on; the third and fourth years expanded to Brooklyn Bazaar. The festival stayed dark in 2020, followed by 2021’s Skankfest South in Houston and October 2022’s debut of Skankfest Vegas.
As co-owner, executive producer and director, Trent’s responsibilities include booking, programming and logistics, plus wading through submission tapes. Her favorite moment over the years was a 2018 secret Tough Crowd series reunion with Colin Quinn, Rich Vos, Jim Norton, Bonnie McFarlane and Robert Kelly.
Some Skankfest moments have fostered controversy, like 2019’s surprise guest Louis C.K. set earning both a standing ovation from attendees and a public apology statement from the venue. While C.K. eventually went on win the 2022 Grammy for Best Comedy Album, Skankfest continued creating opportunities, from the Naked Roast Battle to hero welcomes for filthy forebears Bob Saget and Gilbert Gottfried.
“Everyone says this is the greatest event for comedy now,” says Mattern. “It’s like a perfect marriage. Everyone thinks of Vegas as dirty and disgusting, whether it is or not, so why wouldn’t you have Skankfest there and play it up a little?”
Pauly Shore, who has maintained a Vegas residence “for a couple years,” performed last year and has three sets on tap. The fit between Vegas and edgy comedy, he notes, is a great one.“Downtown lends itself to the Skankfest vibe,” Shore affirms. “They got a good thing going and I’m hoping they are there for a while.”
According to Trent, “Our only goal is to make it bigger better and funnier every year,” though takeaways from 2022 include additional seating, sun coverage, tightened security and a new check-in location with extended hours. All of which only adds to a better festival experience, increased ticket sales and more opportunities for comics to let loose without regulations or notes.
“For a festival that has grown from 300 to 3,000 over the course of a handful of years,” Trent marvels, “we have had surprisingly little issues.”
SKANKFEST RETURN TO VEGAS September 29-October 1, times and prices vary, Notoriety, skankfest.com.
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