The comedy scene has been growing in the Coachella Valley—and Coachella Valley Brewing Co. in Thousand Palms has played a big role in that growth.
While CVB is a brewery first and a performance venue second, it’s been a key part of the area’s entertainment scene. During the COVID-19 shutdowns, CVB was one of the first venues to start hosting socially distanced entertainment; today, comedy shows and live music pack the place.
One event in particular shows how CVB has enhanced the local comedy scene: the yearly Comedy Fest, which highlights the talent of desert comics while featuring a number of great out-of-town acts. The third annual fest takes place Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24.
“I’ve been booking comedy shows at Coachella Valley Brewing Co. since about late 2018,” said comedian and Comedy Fest organizer Dacoda Miracle. “After the pandemic, I talked to Wes (Gainey, taproom manager at CVB) about how it’d be really cool to get a bunch of comics who have done shows here who I’ve worked with in the past, and have an all-day hangout with a bunch of comedians. I started talking to some friends and all these comics who I’ve come across, and they all seemed really interested—so it just kind of turned into a comedy festival.
“The response from the local community was immense and a lot more than I expected for the first year. … It was very rewarding to see how happy it made everyone and how excited everyone got for it. It just snowballed to where I’m like, ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to do this every year now.’”
Miracle has been pivotal in the growth of the local comedy scene, and his work at CVB has helped inspire locals to pick up a microphone and get onstage.
“When I first moved here in 2018 … I hadn’t really met too many other local comics at that point,” Miracle said. “The consistency of the open mics at the brewery, and a few other pop-up open mics that have sprung up across the valley, have generated close to 20 local comics from 2018 until now. It’s been an amazing growth, in large part due to the comedy shows at the brewery.”
Miracle explained why CVB remains a staple of the local comic world.
“When I first started doing open mics here, everyone was so supportive,” Miracle said. “I think because there was already this support for local acts, local artists and local everything with the Coachella Valley … it just made me feel at home and made me feel like I can experiment and kind of take risks onstage. That’s kind of what Coachella Valley Brewery has been all about from the beginning.
“Thanks in large part to Wes and the team here at Coachella Valley Brewery, I’ve been able to experiment with different types of shows, and do street-comedy shows—but also, we’ve done some variety shows as well. Wes has been very gracious to allow it to morph and change in terms of the setup of the comedy. We started doing it in the taproom back in 2018, and all the lights were on, there were just high-top chairs; there was no stage or anything. Then we moved it to the back, where they brew the beer. We started turning off the lights and having tables, and now the setup is just rows of chairs, and we have stages and proper lighting—and it actually feels and looks like a comedy show.”
“How any comic gets better is just having enough stage time, and getting up there constantly. The more opportunities there are for comedians, the better they can get.”
Dacoda Miracle
The consistency of CVB’s Saturday comedy nights has helped empower local performers.
“How any comic gets better is just having enough stage time, and getting up there constantly,” Miracle said. “The more opportunities there are for comedians, the better they can get. With the comedy community growing, that means there are more comedians who run their own shows, and more open mics pop up, which means everyone gets more stage time and can grow their own act. Being able to produce shows at the brewery here and across the valley has personally given me more stage time, and has allowed me to sharpen my skills. In turn, that benefits everyone as well.”
At this year’s Comedy Fest, comics from the desert will share a bill with performers from Las Vegas, Reno, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Dakota Ray Hebert, from Canada, will be performing a non-traditional comedy show.
“She’s a pretty prominent feature in the Canadian comedy scene,” Miracle said. “We’re bringing her and some of her close friends in comedy out for the fest, and they are going to be doing a show called Red White and You. They’re writers on shows in Canada, and that’s one of the shows that they’re pitching, so they’re going to be performing it live here at the Comedy Fest.”
The festival also includes a non-traditional show hosted by Indio comedian Los Digits.
“We’re doing a one-liner joke-off competition, and we’re doing the ‘No Llores Roast Battles,’” Miracle said. “He grew up in Indio and moved out to L.A. a few years back, and he’s made a name for himself on the roast-battle scene at the Comedy Store, and he’s created his own style of roast battle that he takes around to different comedy clubs.”
Miracle said he wants the Comedy Fest at CVB to both entertain and help local comedians make big connections.
“This is a really big networking opportunity for all the comedians, just to be together on one day,” Miracle said. “It’s definitely a very natural way to meet other people in the industry and form those connections, and I think that’s very important for everyone in the industry.”
The Coachella Valley Brewery Comedy Fest takes place from Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24, at Coachella Valley Brewing Co., 30640 Gunther St., in Thousand Palms. Tickets start at $29.99. For tickets and more information, search for the fest on Eventbrite.