Comedian Alicia Kismet and art instructor Michael Gaughan, the hosts of “Laugh and Draw,” on July 18 at the Q.arma Building in Minneapolis.Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
On a summer evening, one after another, standup comedians take the mic in front of a group of artists in a brightly lit gallery.
“Good to say ‘Hello’ and look you all in the eye,” Alex Ngo says.
“This is a little jarring. You usually have brighter lights looking back at me, so I never have to see you.”
The artists sit with sketchpads and pencils. They begin to draw.
“How long have I had this pose up?” Dru Nustad asks, holding up a prop — a vintage clock. “I feel like I’m planking right now. All right, all right, I’m switching up on you guys now. I’m going with Bad Posture Man.”
The crowd – of artists – laugh and look back down at their paper.
“I want everyone to draw me really sexy,” says Greg Orange. “Is that cool? I feel like it probably can’t be that hard.”
Drawing laughs
This is Laugh and Draw, a quarterly event series that combines stand-up comedy and a figure drawing class.
Alicia Kismet is a comedian as well as an arts reporter and critic for the Minnesota Star Tribune. Along with, Michael Gaughan, an art instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, she started the series in 2024.
“I wanted to host a show, but not just like any comedy show, something that felt kind of more specific to my interest in visual art,” Kismet says.
“I had written an essay about can art make you laugh for Hyperallergic,” Kismet says, “so I was like, ‘How can I bring art and comedy together in real life?’”
Read the full story by Alex Cipolle on MPR!
