
Valerie Lopez

Alyssa Spatola

Evan Rabalais attempting to break the record for world’s longest stand-up comedy show checks out. Between playing hours-long Dungeons & Dragons campaigns and crafting stories opposed to just one-liners for his standup, he’s no stranger to long-form entertainment.
Likewise as producer of Fallout’s Critical Hit–a tabletop improv show – Rabalais is familiar with the strategic and sometimes stressful aspects of comedy show production. With his next adventure, 96 Hour Comedy Fest (May 24th-28th, 2023), he’s about to embark on his most difficult (albeit exciting) quest yet by combining the two.
96 Hour Comedy Fest will be four straight days of around-the-clock stand up comedy in an attempt to break the Guinness Book World Record for world’s longest stand-up comedy show. The record would be a great accolade for the festival’s venue, Fallout Theatre, and could further solidify Austin’s place on the comedy map.
But with all the logistics, planning, paperwork, and well, math, someone might wonder why Rabalais would personally take on the task. Turns out, this is not his first rodeo. He got to perform at 3AM for an entire hour at the Nashville festival in 2016 that currently holds the record (of a whopping 80 hours and 5 minutes). He shares with Valerie Lopez that the fun, weird experience inspired him to attempt his own record here in Austin. “I wanted to do this because it’s weird. It’s interesting. It’s fun for me to try and think of the math of this production. And on top of all that, like at the end of the day, if it’s successful, my name is in the Guinness World Record book.”
But following Guinness’s strict rules of having nonstop stage rotations for a full 96 hours won’t be easy. Having to meticulously manage the 15+ minute set times of at least 150 comedians gives a whole new meaning to comedic timing. But Rabalais’s tenacity and knack for long-form fun and strategic thinking will be giving Austin a super unique opportunity to be a part of comedy history. “Organization is difficult, but it excites me. Really trying to organize a show like that really tickles my brain in a positive way.”
Rabalais can’t do it alone. For this type of event, it will quite literally take a village, but submissions for 96 Hour Comedy Fest haven’t been rolling in quite as quickly as he would like. “Hey comics! Sign up! Please for the love of God,” Rabalais hilariously pleaded with Valerie in this week’s episode.
While Guinness does require each comic provide some paperwork (proof of at least one year of stand up experience and your 20 most recent paid gigs) the cost to submit is 100% free, unlike many other festivals. And with so many hours of time to fill, comics will be guaranteed some great stage time. Not to mention, it’s going to be super fun. “If you enjoy being around comics all day, every day, and just doing weird shit at all hours of the day, that’s what this is,” Rabalais shared.
So if that sounds like fun to you, this is your call to submit to the festival! Over a four-day period, Rabalais needs hosts, and 150 (but ideally 200) comedians to submit and perform one after another, for at least fifteen minutes, without a single entire minute of silence, in order to obtain the record.
If you’re not able to help by performing, you can still help out by volunteering as a record-keeper (Ohhh, fancy!). Or, if you’re just in it for the giggles, you can help by merely being an audience member (one of the 10 minimum that need to be in the room at all times).
It sounds like a lot of rules, but by following them, the 96 Hour Comedy Festival is also breaking the rules of conventional comedy festivals, thus breaking new ground for Austin’s comedy scene. He’s bringing us something really awesome and it shows in his passion for it. “I can do a lot of really cool things, a lot of good things – all I need is the opportunity.” Austin comedy scene, give Evan Rabalais and yourself that opportunity:
Whether it’s at 3PM or 3AM, we hope to see you at 96 Hour Comedy Fest May 24 – 28, 2023 at Fallout Theatre!
Follow Evan
- Linktree — linktr.ee/evanrabuhlay
- Twitter — @evanrabuhlay
- Instagram — @evanrabuhlay
- TikTok — @evanrabuhlay
- Youtube — youtube.com/@evanrabuhlay
Evan can be seen and heard:
- Critical Hit - First Wednesday of every month at the Fallout Theater
- 96 Hour Comedy Fest — May 24th-28th, 2023 at the Fallout Theater

Valerie Lopez

Alyssa Spatola
