Blue Text Bubbles from Chicago creates entire worlds based on real digital messages audience members have sent and received
Rich Lopez | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
Dallas is known for many things, but, until recently, a dedicated alt-comedy festival wasn’t one of them.
Enter the Dallas Indie Comedy Festival (DICF), an event born from the passion of local producers to fill a gap they discovered amid the city’s arts scene. Now in its second year, the festival shines a spotlight on the absurd, quirky and weird scene of alternative comedy.
“There wasn’t currently a comedy festival in Dallas dedicated to this type of comedy,” said Stefan Newman of the nonprofit Indie Lab Creative (ILC), the team that founded the festival, explaining what prompted the festival’s creation.
The festival, which launched Thursday, runs through April 12 at the historic Arts Mission Oak Cliff. DICF 2026 will feature more than 100 performers from Dallas, Chicago and Nashville as well as this year’s festival headliner, Silent Partners’ Picture Show from Los Angeles.
“Beth [Jones] and I started producing Indie Night a few years ago, and, after doing that, we decided on the festival,” Newman said. “This year we expanded into three nights and doubled the number of performers, so I’m really excited about this year’s festival.”
Newman also produces the queer comedy shows Queer Factor and Butt Gay at Dallas Comedy Club in Deep Ellum. He and Jones are part of the larger team of ILC that have advocated for comedy of all types in the Dallas scene. ILC also includes Madi Slavens, Cheslea Gomez, Raye Maddox and Ashley Rountree.
Newman compares ILC’s vision to other big cities, like Chicago, with established alt-comedy cultures. He said ILC hopes to foster that same energy right here in Dallas.
Jones serves as ILC’s executive producer, among all the other hats she wears. She said she is glad this festival can highlight the diverse nature of Dallas creatives that the DICF reflects.
“In curating the show, we keep in mind the variety of acts and performers, and we try to represent all that comedy from everyone,” Jones said. “It’s more layered and the people we bring to the stage is a concerted effort to keep everything diverse.”
That includes some queer representation as well, which isn’t a far stretch considering. “A lot of our team identifies with the queer community,” Jones said.
Also on the roster are two acts that totally speak gay. The festival spotlights queer groups like Rainbow Rats, an improv troupe that started at of Stomping Ground here in Dallas.
The all-LGBTQIA+ Rainbow Rats team turns audience suggestions into comedy stories on the spot. They take the most relatable queer experiences all the way to absurdity where nothing is off-limits.
The local team includes Jared Javier Enriquez, Victoria Hines, Lupe Guzman Jr., Siali Siaosi, Nan Kirkpatrick, Will Holston, Nik Malev and Sarah Woynicz — all coached by Milo Michelle Wilder.
Another featured act is Blue Text Bubbles from Chicago, a queer comedy troupe bringing improv for the cyber age. The group explores the way technology influences our relationships and then creates entire worlds based on real digital messages audience members have sent and received. With a show about dating app disasters, social media meet-ups and LinkedIn love stories, Blue Text Bubbles will bring something most everyone can relate to — the gays, espeically.
Reflecting on last year’s initial success, Newman said. “It turned out really great. We had a good turnout. The amount of interest and how many submissions we got blew us away.”
For more information and tickets/passes, visit DallasIndieComedyFest.com.