Laugh Festival raise money for non-profits with four night of shows.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The 2024 Santa Barbara Laugh Festival has four nights of comedy and a goal to help raise money for the area's non-profit groups.

The festival is underway with about 40 comedians on the schedule.

They are performing at venues including the Red Piano, the Java Station, and the Anchor Rose. Some have been on stage in Hollywood, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and TV specials.

Executive Director and Founder, Luis Moro, produces shows weekly in Santa Barbara. For this event he is specifically identifying non-profits to get the funding.

It is expected to be part of the business plan going forward.

"My business model is that the non-profits keep the money. So if the people in Santa Barbara are going to go to comedy shows, I had to produce comedy shows that the people of Santa Barbara want to come to only this time they are donating to Teddy Bear Foundation, they are donating to Newhouse, Project Harmony, the Maritime Museum, the Unity Shoppe in the future we are having some conversations with them," he said.

There's a whole lineup of non-profits he said, "to really have every show be a fundraiser for a non-profit in Santa Barbara."

The Laugh Festival says it is honoring the "Guardians of the Community."

On a regular basis Moro books the Red Piano every Thursday and Java Station on Friday nights.

He says he has booked shows in different areas for years. In addition to the individual comics, "we have a solid team of comedy producers that come up every month from Los Angeles." They deliver great comedy.

There is a different scene between an "open mic" show and a set show. He also says he avoids the "hate comedy" scene. "In the beginning, I had to gauge the comics" he said, "to make sure they were presenting comedy for the Santa Barbara audience."

For a full list of the shows, sites and performers go to:  The Santa Barbara Laugh Festival.