GET YOUR RED NOSE READY FOR BIG LAUGHS!

On Friday, March 20th, I will be doing a program of laughter yoga for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Cabin Fever Comedy Festival. The following article ran in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Please click here and here for information about the festival.

Red noses promote laughter in Mount Vernon-Lisbon

Attendees at this week's Cabin Fever Comedy Festival in and around Mount Vernon and Lisbon must wear red clown noses, as modeled by (from left) Miles Fuller, Joe Jennison and Gazette Columnist Dave Rasdal, to get access to the events.

MOUNT VERNON — What do you do when you hold a winter-fest celebration and there’s no snow?

You laugh it off and hold a comedy fest the next year. You make sure everyone is red-faced, er, red-nosed about it.

The first Cabin Fever Comedy Festival in the Mount Vernon-Lison area begins Tuesday and runs through the weekend. It features plenty of laughs at two dozen events, not the least of which will be seeing the audience wear red foam-rubber clown noses. That’s because you buy a nose for three bucks and get free admission to all events.

Obviously, the festival’s name derives from the fact we’ve usually been cooped up all winter. But, with temperatures already in the 70s and very little snow, festival organizers are 0 for 2 as weather forecasters.

“You’ve been happy and content going out this winter because it’s been nice,” laughs Cabin Fever founder Miles Fuller. “And now we have this festival, It’s ironic.”

But “Cabin Fever” promises to cure spring fever with everything from seminars by Laughing Laura to the “Funniest Person in Mount Vernon and Lisbon” contest. (For events see visitmvl.com or keep your eye on The Gazette).

The comedy festival came about as Miles, a non-fiction creative writing instructor at the University of Iowa, talked about it among friends in Mount Vernon. He brought the idea to Joe Jennison, marketing director for the Mount Vernon and Lisbon Community Development Group. A committee was formed and the festival was born.

Originally, Miles, 25, a closet standup comedian, had considered holding the festival in Iowa City.

“I decided it wouldn’t work there,” he says. “We’re all serious as a heart attack.”

But Mount Vernon and Lisbon seemed ideal, just as the area had lured the Salt Lake City native to his place of residence.

“It’s beautiful. They have just the right amount of delicious food. And I’m really happy to be here because they said ‘yes’ to the festival.”

Ideas tossed around to promote the funny fest included T-shirts, maybe even trying to schlep the surplus from the previous year. But a new festival needed a new angle.

Rubber chickens? Whoopee cushions? Joy buzzers? Clown noses?

“When you said noses, it was such a great idea,” Miles says to Joe. “The noses work because the audience has to wear them to get into all of the events. Everyone has to participate.”

The communities have already embraced the idea like a clown takes to seltzer water, making a dent in the supply of 2,000 red noses and taking pictures of themselves in groups or individually wearing the noses for Facebook and website display.

“One of them is a dentist,” Miles says with a smile. “He got into the laughing gas.”

Comments: (319) 398-8323; dave.rasdal@sourcemedia.net

HIGHLIGHTS: CABIN FEVER COMEDY FESTIVAL

Admission to all events is a red clown nose that can be purchased for $3 at a variety of area locations or at the Mount Vernon Visitor’s Center, also headquarters for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group. (See its website at visitmvl.com)

Highlights include:

• “Laughing Laura” workshop at 7 p.m. Friday, First Presbyterian Church, Mount Vernon. The Rev. Laura Gentry directs the Iowa School of Laughter Yoga in Lansing as a pioneer of the laughter movement. She has led classes on five continents and is the first woman in America to become a Master Trainer of Laughter.

• “Funniest Person in Mount Vernon and Lisbon” contest, 4 p.m. Saturday, First Street Community Center, Mount Vernon. Amateur comedians of any age or experience level will give 2- to 5-minute family-friendly performances to try to win the title of “2012 Funniest Person in Mount Vernon and Lisbon” and $100. Applications are available at www.visitmvl.com

• Late Night Stand-up, 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Professional comedians from around the state will perform at area clubs (C&D Lounge, Chameleon’s and Scorz in Mount Vernon) with Paperback Rhino Improv Group at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at 3 Finger Saloon in Lisbon.

I've got my clown nose ready and I'm excited for this hilarious weekend!