CIS prof Roger Dube in Fall Improv Comedy Show

The first Fall Back Comedy Festival got underway Wednesday night at The Space in Rochester.

Ninety-six performers from outside the area have been booked for the festival, which runs through Sunday, but it's really a chance for the Rochester comedy scene to leave 'em laughing.  Roger Dube is an RIT physics professor by day, improv comedian by night.  "It's kind of like a palate cleanser," he said of performing.  "It's like, okay, take your mind out of physics and now do something entirely different, totally creative, totally spontaneous, no way to rehearse or practice, you just go do it."

Dozens of local improve comedians make up the Rochester comedy scene and call The Space, located on East Main Street and Goodman Street in the city, home.  "Everyone knows this as the place to come if you want to grow, whether your just planting your little improv seed or you've been doing it for a long time," said Dewey Lovett, who's been performing for about a year.

The Fall Back Comedy Fest features a mix of local talent and improv troupes from New York, Boston, Atlanta and Toronto.  "We just reached out to the people that we know and love and said, hey, you want to come to Rochester for a week and show our city what you've got, and most people responded really positively," said Festival Co-Producer Law Tarello.

The Festival will showcase long form improv and standup comedy.  Saturday and Sunday instructors from Chicago's famed Second City will be conducting workshops.  "You get to see them first hand, you get to work with them, you get to talk to them, you get to see how they handle things, and all of this is inspiration," said Dube.

Most said they take the stage for the sheer joy of performing, and the rush it provides.  "I guess it's a release to just be allowed to be completely goofy and satirical at the same time," said Lovett, who hopes to pursue a comedy career in Chicago.

Tarello, who grew up in Brooklyn and has performed professionally for years, said everything that happens on stage is created in the moment.  "There's no scripting involved in anything that we do," he noted.

Dube was drawn to the improv scene three years ago by his wife, who also performs.  "If you go in with a preconceived notion of anything that can actually cripple you, so it's really much better to just cruise in there, with nothing in mind," he said.

Tarello began teaching in Rochester three years ago.  He said in cities like New York, comedy is about competition, while locally, it's more about collaboration.  "I love the comedy scene in Rochester," he said.

For more information about the Fall Back Comedy Fest, click here.  For more information about The Space, click here.