Pun times ahead at NC Comedy Arts Festival

For the past couple of years, Wilmington-based husband and wife Gary Haymes and Blaire Postman have been hamming it up on the internet as the hosts of “My Fantasy Wife,” a weekly podcast which melds sports and comedy.

And even if you’re not into sports, Postman and Haymes, along with their guests and regular cohorts, ad-lib and goof around enough to still make it an entertainingly addictive listen.

“I don’t know much of anything about sports,” says Postman, 46, on the phone from Wilmington with Haymes, 51. “Gary knows everything. We pick some hot topics to talk about every week. ... And then we have our comedian guests on, which we started about a year ago, and we don’t have them talk about comedy, really. We have them talk about whatever sports or sports-ish thing they’re interested in.”

“If you’re a sports nut, you’d enjoy it,” adds Haymes. “If you like comedy, you’d enjoy it.”

“Wife,” which hit its 100-episode mark last month, will record a live episode during this year’s North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival – or NCCAF, to the cool kids – Sunday, Feb. 19, at the DSI Comedy Theater in Chapel Hill. Admission is free at the door for the podcast recording; reserved seats are $10. Ticket prices vary for other events.

Postman, a former comedy booker/manager-turned-comic, did stand-up at the festival last year. This year will offer the couple a chance to see if their sports shtick plays well in front of a Triangle crowd.

“It’s a lot of fun to do some of these things in front of a live audience,” Postman said.

“Wife” will be just one of several humorous attractions at the fest, now in its 16th year.

Various comedians, improv groups and sketch shows, featuring both local and veteran funny people, will share stage time during the nine-day fest, mostly going down in Chapel Hill at the DSI Comedy Theater and Local 506, and at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

Veteran, rubbery-limbed comic Emo Phillips will return to kick things off on Wednesday, Feb. 15, with his patented spacey shtick. “The State” alum Kevin Allison will also be back Friday, Feb. 17, to host the live show and podcast known as “RISK!” where people tell brutally honest (and sometimes hilarious) stories about themselves.

Writer and comedienne Aparna Nancherla, who used to attend the fest back in the day as an up-and-coming comic, will have a stage all to herself as she does a headlining show Saturday, Feb. 18.

There also will be one-person sketch and improv shows, family-friendly improv shows, sketch and stand-up shows, college improv showcases and youth improv showcases. There will even be a pun competition known as the “Home Pun Derby” as well as an improv show called “THE BAT,” which takes place in the dark.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Pun times ahead at NC Comedy Arts Festival."