Lookout Comedy has performed in bars, restaurants, a public library and even a cat cafe.
The Chattanooga nonprofit doesn’t have a permanent venue, and Courtenay Cholovich, one of the local comedians behind the organization, sees that as an advantage.
With little more than a PA system and microphone, Lookout Comedy can take stand-up into spaces that aren’t traditional comedy venues, creating more places for comedians to perform and audiences to find them.
“Our work is community responsive,” Cholovich says. “What we’re seeing – and this is true of comedy at large, not just here – is a need for more venues, more spaces where different voices and different kinds of people can perform and be paid for their work and their time.”
That mission is expanding with the help of grant funding, including a recent Artists Work grant from ArtsBuild that will support Lookout Comedy’s monthly showcases into early 2027.
Meanwhile, the event that started it all – the Lookout Comedy Festival – returns Oct. 14-17 for four days of performances, panels and networking at venues across Chattanooga.
Creating more room for comedy
Lookout Comedy traces its roots to 2018, when local comedian Donnie Marsh founded the Lookout Comedy Festival. The festival grew into the organization’s premier annual event, while Lookout Comedy expanded its programming and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2025.
Unlike a traditional comedy club, Lookout Comedy isn’t tied to a single stage or format.
A conventional club show often consists of a host, a feature comedian performing 20 or 30 minutes and a headliner performing an hour. Lookout Comedy can instead organize showcases featuring a larger number of comedians performing shorter sets.
For Cholovich, that elasticity addresses a basic reality of the business.
“Not everyone gets to perform in a club or gets booked by club bookers,” she says. “There are only so many spots available.”
The organization’s ability to move among venues also gives it room to reach different audiences and communities. While much of its programming has taken place in downtown Chattanooga, Lookout Comedy is beginning to look farther afield.
“Downtown Chattanooga is pretty saturated with independent comedy shows,” Cholovich says. “So we’re hoping to expand into surrounding communities that may not have the same access to comedy or as many opportunities for performers.”
A grant-funded showcase is scheduled for Dalton in September, and Cholovich says Lookout Comedy is interested in bringing shows to communities including Hixson, Ooltewah and Collegedale, as well as surrounding counties.
“We’ll go wherever,” she says. “We want to reach the entire greater Chattanooga region.”
Grant funding fuels growth
That expansion has been aided by ArtsBuild, which recently awarded $135,000 to 30 Hamilton County artists through its 2026-27 Artists Work Grant program.
The program provides grants of up to $5,000 for community-driven projects intended to increase access to the arts and bring artistic experiences into neighborhoods throughout Hamilton County.
Cholovich received an Artists Work grant for Lookout Comedy’s Monthly Comedy Showcase, continuing a series that began in January with support from an earlier ArtsBuild grant. The new funding will help sustain the showcases through February 2027.
The shows typically feature four to six comedians with varying levels of experience and set lengths. Early installments were held at JJ’s Bohemia, a longtime home for independent comedy in Chattanooga, while others have taken place at the Chattanooga Public Library and Broad’s Lounge.
Other grant support has expanded what Lookout Comedy can offer the performers themselves. Funding from the Tennessee Arts Commission allowed the organization to purchase a camera and audio equipment, enabling it to record performances and provide comedians with clips they can use to pursue other bookings.
Cholovich says the organization’s showcase model also allows it to compensate performers at rates comparable to what they might receive for similar work at comedy clubs.
For Lookout Comedy, ArtsBuild’s impact has extended beyond individual projects.
“ArtsBuild has exponentially increased our bandwidth and capacity,” Cholovich says. “It’s expanded our outreach, connected us with other organizations and helped us reach a wider audience. It’s also helped build our portfolio, allowing us to apply for larger grants and continue to grow.”
Cholovich says ArtsBuild staff also provided guidance when Lookout Comedy was learning how to operate as a nonprofit, meeting with its leaders to discuss funding opportunities and organizational development.
But she sees another aspect of that support as equally important: ArtsBuild’s willingness to recognize stand-up as an art form worthy of investment.
“They were the first to take a chance on us and recognize stand-up comedy as spoken-word art and performance,” Cholovich says. “It deserves funding and recognition.”
That recognition matters, she says, because while some performers work across several artistic disciplines, others devote themselves almost entirely to comedy.
“For so many people, stand-up is what they do,” she says. “They deserve opportunities and funding, as well as the recognition that stand-up is a legitimate art form and creative outlet.”
The festival returns
The Lookout Comedy Festival will return Oct. 14-17 with about 20 comedians coming to Chattanooga from around the country, joined by local performers who will host, produce and appear on shows.
This year’s festival is expected to include about a dozen shows at the Comedy Catch, JJ’s Bohemia, Cherry Street Tavern, Barlery and a secret location that won’t be disclosed until the day of the performance.
Headliners include Shane Torres and Kyle Canaan. Daniel Delano, a former Lookout Comedy Festival participant who went on to appear on “Funny AF” with Kevin Hart, will return as a headliner, while Chattanooga comedian Jimmy Sowell, better known online as Nerdork, will also headline.
The festival isn’t designed solely as entertainment for audiences. Lookout Comedy brings in bookers and other comedy industry professionals from around the country to help participating comedians learn how to turn stage time into career opportunities.
Panels cover topics such as submitting performance videos to bookers, finding additional work and building a social media presence. Performers can ask questions of industry professionals, have professional headshots taken and participate in parties and networking events.
“It’s shows, but it’s also educational and professional development,” Cholovich says. “It’s all of these things wrapped into one.”
This year’s festival also marks a milestone for the organization. For the first time, Cholovich says, Lookout Comedy will be able to pay all of the artists coming to Chattanooga for the event.
She credits the organization’s growing access to grant funding with making that possible.
Taking the stage farther afield
The annual festival and monthly showcases are only part of Lookout Comedy’s growing slate of programming.
The organization also stages the Lookout Comedy Competition each May, with roughly 20 comedians competing for cash prizes and spots in the annual festival, and operates an open mic at the Comedy Catch, generally twice a month.
Cholovich hopes the organization can eventually offer introductory stand-up classes and professional-development workshops for emerging comedians who have begun developing material but don’t yet know how to turn it into paid work.
Lookout Comedy also wants to bring more performers from outside the region to Chattanooga while taking more of its own programming beyond downtown.
“We want to get out of downtown Chattanooga and reach more places,” Cholovich says. “We want to bring in artists from other areas, introduce new voices and connect with people we haven’t reached before.”
Lookout Comedy may not have a permanent home, but that’s beside the point. The organization is trying to create more places where comedy can happen – and more opportunities for the people behind the microphone.