Dirty South Improv aims to bring a little filthy fun back to the Triangle, kicking off its 13th year this week. Starting with a night of stand-up, the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival will showcase over 50 up-and-coming sketch artists, improvisers and stand-up comedians from all over the Triangle, as well as the rest of the U.S. and Canada.

Dirty South Improv produced the first North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival in 2001. DSI hoped to bring audiences and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the opportunity to experience different workshops in the art of Chicago-style improvisation.

“It’s been 12 years since we’ve started, so the festival is 13 years old,” Carrie Gorn, NCCAF’s publicist, said. “It’s one of the largest festivals of its kind on the East coast.”

The NCCAF kicked off this year’s festivities at Motorco Music Hall in Durham. The festival will run until Feb. 17 and will be held at several venues throughout Chapel Hill and Carrboro. According to NCCAF executive producer Zach Ward, opening the festival with an evening of stand-up seemed like the only way to go.

“Stand-up is always a great way to kick off the festival,” Ward said. “Last year, we had two All-Star showcases with Late Show with David Letterman comic Eddie Brill. This year we are thrilled to welcome Aparna Nancherla back to the festival.”

Ward said that there will be a large number of rising comics in attendance this year.

The festival’s headliners include Kevin Allison’s RISK! Live, Second City and Steven Wright. NCCAF has featured talent that has been seen everywhere from big television shows such as Saturday Night Live and on cable networks like Comedy Central. 

“We invite and reach out to some artists such as the headliners,” Gorn said. “However, most of the people who want to be a part of the festival submit to us.”

NCCAF is broken into three components: stand-up, improvisation and sketch. The stand-up block will run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, with the sketch block following Feb. 6 through Feb. 10. Finally, the improvisation block will end the festival, running Feb. 12 through Feb. 17.  

Each of the blocks has comedic talent such as April Richardson, a regular on the E! Show Chelsea Lately, and RISK!, a show which features local storytellers and host Kevin Allison, a member of the MTV sketch comedy troupe The State.

According to Gorn, a unique quality of the festival is the duality of having such a large number of comedic talents in one area. While the NCCAF showcases up-and-coming talent, it also provides unique opportunities for the performers.

 “While the performers are here it’s almost like a huge conference,” Gorn said. “They get to go to workshops, and they get to network with performers all over the country.”

According to Ward, the festival has continued to attract a high level of talent, something everyone can benefit from.

“I am thrilled that the festival continues to attract the level of talent that it does,” Ward said. “The teams representing the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in both New York and Los Angeles this year are incredible.”

With the dawn of its thirteenth year the NCCAF hopes to once again draw both audiences and comedic participants to its trademark concoction of comedy.

“It’s simply a really great way for people in the Triangle to see comedy from all over the country,” Gorn said.