Back for its ninth year, the Flyover Comedy Festival will take over the Delmar Loop from November 11-15 with headliners Dropout Improv, David Cross, Roy Wood Jr., the Sklar Brothers, Dulcé Sloan, and Yakov Smirnoff, among nearly 150 other performers.
Over the better part of the last decade, Flyover has continued to expand its footprint, starting off in The Grove before eventually expanding to include larger capacity venues such as Stifel Theatre, The Pageant, and Delmar Hall. As the festival continues to evolve and expand, Flyover co-founder and executive producer Zach Gzehoviak notes that they are excited to move their programming to the Delmar Loop this year.
“It’s going to be a really nice walkable footprint for us, with some larger capacity venues that can accommodate some larger acts,” Gzehoviak says. “It’s always a little nervous shifting, with such a big change after spending eight years in one area, but we were pretty spread out with some of those bigger shows. So I do think there will be a lot more convenience, and overall I do think it is a positive.”
This year’s venues include The Pageant, Delmar Hall, Church on Delmar (above Swade Dispensary), the second floor of Fitz’s Delmar, Center of Creative Arts (COCA), Pin-Up Bowl, and Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room and Elvis Room. Additionally, Flyover will still have shows at the Improv Shop in The Grove and Stifel Theatre.
Outside of the big-name headliners, Gzehoviak is quick to point out the strong crop of talent filling out the lineup. These include stand-ups such as Cameron Esposito, Tone Bell, Katherine Blanford, Daniel Van Kirk, and Casey Rocket, as well as improv showcases from Shitty Mozart, Lemon Pepper Wet, Cherry Bomb, and Connor Ratliff presents The Acting Class, among many others. It’s the emerging talents that excite Gzehoviak the most, as he has seen the festival evolve into a hotspot for showcasing up-and-coming acts from across the comedy industry, even drawing eyes from industry professionals.
“My main thing that I want people to take away from our festival is that we’ve built a premier destination for emerging talent,” Gzehoviak says “While all of the headline shows are exciting, we’re equally or more excited about all of the emerging talent that’s attending and all of the industry that is attending from Netflix, Just for Laughs, Moontower Comedy Festival, and executives from major talent agencies and management companies.”
Gzehoviak has even seen industry professionals prioritizing Flyover over other opportunities around the same time of year. Comics who perform at Flyover are also getting more opportunities, whether that’s being picked up to showcase at other major festivals or tours, or in some cases getting representation.
Beyond seeing this broader support from industry players, Gzehoviak has also watched Flyover develop into an event that brings comics and performers from St. Louis and around the country together to connect, collaborate, and network. This not only brings more eyes to the thriving St. Louis comedy scene, but it also helps comics from elsewhere find an audience here. It’s the kind of thing that makes St. Louis feel even less like “flyover country,” as the festival’s name jokingly implies.
“There’s just a lot of cool connections made for emerging talent, and definitely for St. Louisans,” Gzehoviak says. “I’ve seen comics go out to L.A. and now they have someone they can contact to get on a show and vice versa. And I think it changes the view of St. Louis. St. Louis has always been a strong stop on the comedy road, but I’ve seen more interest in making it a priority.”
Individual tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. CT on Friday, July 24. 4-Day badges are currently available for purchase. These include the Loop Badge for $76.19, which offers first come, first served access to all club shows at Delmar Loop venues and The Improv Shop (excluding shows at Stifel and The Pageant); the Loop+ Badge for $150.28, which includes all of that plus access to one theater show at Stifel or The Pageant; and the Everything Badge for $213.78, which includes access to everything. For more information about the lineup, tickets, and badges, visit flyovercomedyfest.com.
