AUSTIN, Texas —
An Austin comic performing at the Moontower Comedy Festival said it's an opportunity to highlight the unique comedy scene and showcase local venues.
Moontower hosts more than 150 comedians from across the country at more than 10 different venues.
Just like South by Southwest and the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Moontower started out as a small local event and it continues to get bigger.
The festival used to include mostly local comics, but now it welcomes big headliners, with Netflix comedy specials and people from "Saturday Night Live."
The festival will have stand-up comedy, sketches and original shows. It goes until April 21.
"To me, it's kind of my local pinnacle. Like, this is a huge moment for me, and I can't express it enough," Austin comic Kandace Medina said.
She said now that the festival getting bigger, there are only a handful of local comedians selected, so she's excited to be able to represent Austin.
"Austin has its own vibe in comedy. We got our own voice more, a little bit more eclectic at times," Medina said. "So, to be able to showcase what Austin can do and what has been happening over the last few years is huge for the local comics here, and for other people from other places to see what skill set we have and the stars being born."
Medina has been doing stand-up for the past five years, and performing at Moontower has always been one of her goals.
"I've been really, really working in the shadows for this, kind of just keeping my head down, working hard. And finally, I think that hard work is paid off," she said.
She performs this upcoming Wednesday, April 17, at Higbie’s and said it’s a great chance to highlight a local venue that may not be as well-known as the others.
"As we keep Austin weird, that's kind of transitioning to support small business and more support local mom-and-pop [places]. And I'm really excited to be able to showcase my talent here at Higbee and to see other venues across the way, get some shine and get some glow up," Medina said.
The venue is right around the corner from the Paramount Theater, where a lot of the headliners are performing. All of the venues are meant to be walkable from each other so people can check out multiple shows in a night.