Photos by Nicholas Karlin, Jeff Martin, Franz Mahr, Clarissa Villondo

Bentzen Ball this year was SPOOKY / SCARY / HILARIOUS / WONDERFUL. More of you came out to it THAN EVER and our photographers submitted more photos of it THAN EVER. (and so many of them were of Greg Barris, see example below)

We’ll let you enjoy the photos below but first some quick notes:

THANK YOUS!

Thank you all for coming!!!! (We hope to see you again soon – here is a handy list of upcoming BYT events, come hang out!)
Thank you to all our amazing (and frankly, legendary) talent: Tig Notaro (officially DC’s comedy BFF and our festival curator), Al Franken, Ira Glass, Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas (listen to How Did This Get Made now and forever), Jenny Slate, Max Silvestri, Gabe Liedman, Jermaine Fowler, David Koechner, Rell Battle, Andrea Gibson, Amber Tamblyn, Cheryl Hines, Stephanie Allynne, Haywood Turnipseed JR, Bobby Kennedy JR, You’re the Expert crew, everyone at Story District, Chris Duffy, Aparna Nancherla, Seaton Smith, Baratunde Thurston, Maeve Higgins, and 150% – Greg Barris (it is official, you were the belle of the Bentzen Ball)
Thank you to all our staff for kicking ass on no sleep this weekend.
Thank you our venues: Lincoln Theatre, DC Improv, Kennedy Center and National Geographic.
Thank you to Waterkeeper Alliance for being our non-profit partner and for everything you do. Lets keep water clean, ok
Thank you to Heineken for presenting all our Lincoln shows and keeping the Bentzen Ball dream alive.
Thank you to W Hotel DC and 202 Creates, for partnering and sponsoring the festival, keeping us well rested and inspired us always.
Thank you to POP TV for presenting the Saturday night pre-show – catch Hot Date premiering Nov 8th.
Thank you to OM Digital for being the best photobooth int he world.
Thanks to Whole Foods, National Gallery of Art, Herbivore Botanicals, Ayoba Yo, Lyft, Kramerbooks, Miss Pixies and Compass Coffee for being lovely and supporting the festival.
Follow us on follow us on FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM and use #BentzenBall and #BYThings ALL THE TIME.
Thank you thank you thank you and SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR!

DAY BY DAY BY DAY BY DAY BREAKDOWN BELOW:

OPENING NIGHT PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND HERE:

Opening night featured Tig, Bentzen BFF Seaton Smith, new Bentzen crush Greg Barris and a special appearance by Bobby Kennedy Jr. It was a packed house, and a great time:

FRIDAY:

Started out with Tig & Cheryl Hines doing some amazing work on DC Morning TV and a cool tour of the US Capitol we took Greg Barris on. We learned about America, and also where to follow Paul Ryan on social media. Also, W Hotel staff is A DELIGHT:

Then, just in time for happy hour (sponsored by Veuve Cliquot because this is a very nice, very classy festival) Cheryl Hines, Tig and Stephanie Allynne joined Washington Post’s Elahe Izadi for a “What She Said: Women in The Business of Comedy” panel at the W Hotel’s POV. 100% of the ticket sales and 20% of Kendra Scott sales went to Waterkeeper Alliance and the biggest takeaway of the night was that these women deserve a talk-show together.

followed by two great shows:

How Did This Get Made (At a VERY sold out Lincoln theatre). The movie was The Howling II: You’re Sister Is A Warewolf, the special guests were Tig and Stephanie, and the best alternative title award goes to: The Howling II: How Sturba Got Her Groove Back. Paul and Jason were VERY impressed by your punny skills, DC.

backstage moments:

and You’re the Expert (at the almost sold out National Geographic): where very funny people try and guess what a National Geographic explorer does all day. If you are not listening to the podcast yet, do it:

the afterparty was at Suns Cinema which is the best place in the world.

SATURDAY:

Saturday had a show at literally each of our venues.

Starting with an afternooner with the cast of CBS’ Superior Donuts (with a special appearance by John Hodgman!!!!) at DC Improv. If you didn’t hear Jermaine’s set that day, you haven’t lived and lost:

Then, Amber Tamblyn and Andrea Gibson performed at the first ever Bentzen Ball poetry night to a sold out terrace theatre at Kennedy Center. Everyone listened:

Then a great, packed house for Story District’s GOING COMMANDO at National Geographic:

And Lincoln Theatre hosted Big Terrific, aka “people you wish were your best friends”: Jenny Slate, Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman.

Haywood Turnipseed Jr and a special premiere of POP TV’s Hot Date, rounded out the evening.

(oh yeah, and Ira Glass stopped by a day early to hang out and laugh. Because Ira Glass knows what the right life decisions to make are)

SUNDAY:

Well, Sunday was Ira Glass and Al Franken in conversation. On a stage filled with inflatable Halloween decorations. It was wonderful. We love you all for being there.