ECU Hosts first ever HumorFest; Tickets on sale now

GREENVILLE, NC —   Q: What do a Romanian public radio poet, a Jewish cowboy, a Southern Lady novelist have in common?

A: They are the keynote speakers for the East Carolina University’s HumorFest, Nov. 1 through Nov. 3.

Author and N.C. native Jill McCorkle, poet Andrei Codrescu, and rock-n-roller Texas novelist Kinky Friedman will speak at ECU as part of the HumorFest-ivities. Codrescu and dancer Claire Porter will present “Stretching Muscles and Words” at 7:15 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 1. Friedman will talk satire and sing at 8 p.m. Nov. 2. A luncheon and reading with McCorkle is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., Nov. 3.

“Humor as an art form rarely attracts the serious attention it deserves,” said Tom Douglass, an ECU professor of English who is co-chairing the event. “The East Carolina HumorFest intends to correct this omission and provide performers, scholars, and students an opportunity to enjoy humor in all of its forms.”

More than a dozen panels with scholars from five countries will present papers humor and all its forms including: taboo and Southern literature, political satire, medieval and renaissance humor, satire in popular culture, humor and healing, among others. All events, except for the Kinky Friedman event, will take place at the Mendenhall Student Center.

Joke tellers, punsters, instigators, musicians, improv masters, impersonators, dancers, jesters, actors, village idiots and storytellers – who also happen to be ECU students – will participate in a “Joke-Offs” planned during the weekend. A campus-wide cream pie-toss will kick off events at noon, Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Mendenhall Student Center brickyard.

The entire HumorFest conference – and tickets for these events – are now available for sale at the ECU Box Office at 1-800-ECU-ARTS or 252-328-4788, or by visiting http://www.ecu.edu/humor. Individual tickets for each event are $15 in advance/$20 at the door. Full conference access is free for ECU students, $25 for students of other campuses, $80 for all others participants (which includes one ticket to each keynote event).

Collections for the first-ever National Registry of Laughter have already begun. Those interested in becoming part of the growing body of laughs are asked to e-mail a five to 20-second MP3 recording of laughter to ecuhumorfest@ecu.edu. Provide the NAME of the laughter, the DATE laughed, and the LOCATION (be as specific as you like). Optional: send a photo and up to 150 words about both the laugher and the laughter. No fake laughter, please. Visit: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-admin/news/humor-laugh-page.cfm to find out more and to listen in on a few good laughs.

“The registry will be a human record of vocal joy,” co-chair Carol Woodruff said. “The best presence we have in the world is a good laugh. You know you’re present when you’re laughing.”

The HumorFest is a partnership of ECU’s English department, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Co-Curricular Programs and Cultural Outreach.

Visit the main ECU HumorFest page for more information: http://www.ecu.edu/humor/