Five stand-up comics who stood out at 10,000 Laughs Festival

Maybe Minnesotans aren’t in the mood to kid around.

The 10,000 Laughs Comedy Festival, first held in 2011, drew the lowest numbers in recent memory, despite boasting its usual mix of outstanding headliners and up-and-coming talent.

The KFAN Power Trip Comedy Show, set to open festivities Wednesday, was canceled because of poor ticket sales. Performances by Leslie Jones and Hannibal Buress at the Pantages Theatre each attracted between 500 and 700 fans, a shockingly low number considering their name recognition.

Promising club performers from across the county sometimes played to fewer than two dozen people at Sisyphus Brewing, which became the unofficial headquarters for the fest after the August closing of Comedy Corner Underground.

“I think overall sales are down as people are bracing for a recession,” said festival founder Bob Edwards, who plans to reopen his Underground club in the basement of Whitey’s Old Town Saloon in northeast Minneapolis in December. “The government saying the city is a war zone for sure impacted some who would normally be game to go downtown.”

Those who did venture out learned why 10,000 has become one of the richest, most diverse and most rewarding comedy festivals in the country. Here are five comedians who made the most out of their stage time.

Buress hasn’t toured much in the past seven years, focusing instead on raising a daughter, running a club in New York City and trying to jump-start a rap career.

He also defended his decision to perform at the recent Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia with the kind of spunk and ingenuity that once made him the most promising name in stand-up. Welcome back. We missed you.

This cast member of Nick Cannon’s “Wild ‘N Out” would have usually ripped the talkative pest in the front row. But those who saw her late show at Sisyphus Brewing Thursday night got the milder version of the anything-goes comic, who didn’t want to risk losing one of only 17 people in the audience.

Even a kinder, gentler Smith is outrageously funny, especially when she dives into material about sexual perversity.

Smith seems to be one juicy movie role or Netflix special away from making the big time.

The best part of comedy festivals is hearing a new voice that might otherwise have no reason to play a Twin Cities venue. Cerone was one of the most delightful finds. The Indiana native capitalizes on his imposing, bulky frame with an act about how he feels out of place in his current home of Los Angeles.

Cerone, like many comics at this year’s fest, doesn’t fit the mold of the stereotypical stand-up, which is all the more reason to root for him.

Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters and Mindy Kaling helped pave the way for Desis to succeed in comedy. Few are taking advantage of it as wisely as this LA-based talent who was making his first appearance in the Twin Cities.

In the best burn of the weekend, he described Minneapolis residents as people “who want to live in Chicago, but don’t want to dream too hard.”

Rahlan is not currently a major club headliner, but he has the stage confidence and material to get there soon.

Minnesotans don’t fully appreciate the marvels of magic, which might be why the locally based Hughes doesn’t get his props. But the veteran performer showed in Saturday’s closing set why he’s one of the state’s greatest talents.