About the Moisture Festival
The Seattle Moisture Festival is the world’s largest Comedy/Variety festival, running for four weeks every spring in Seattle.
Our Mission
The Moisture Festival’s mission is to enrich the community by presenting an affordable annual festival showcasing the art of live comedy/variety performance.
The Moisture Festival encourages the contemporary creativity that is constantly emerging in this field and strives to educate people about the rich history of this genre.
What is the Moisture Festival?
Comedy/Variety is an intriguing assortment of entertainment. It is highly skilled performance mixed with many bizarre talents, often humorous, with no limit to the imagination. Presented as a variety show, each act or artist performs their routine within a 3-10 minute time slot while being accompanied by a live show band. Aerialists, jugglers, magicians, comedians, dancers, rope acts, bubble acts, clowns, acrobats, can can girls, strong women, strong men, tap dancers, drill teams, musicians, the weird and the wonderful—all keeping the tradition of Comedy/Variety Vaudeville alive.
See our detailed History of the Moisture Festival & Financial Philosophy for more.
The upcoming Moisture Festival comedy/variety shows will be presented at Broadway Performance Hall on Capitol Hill.
About Our Organization
Moisture Festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN Number: 20-3366934). You can find public information about our organization, including our annual filings with the IRS at the following external links:
Annual Report
This document is a summary of the activities and finances within our most recent fiscal year, including:
- A letter from our Executive Director reflecting on this year and the future of the festival
- Stories from key stakeholders
- Facts and figures, what we did, how much it cost, how much we made
- Partner, sponsor and grant information
- How to get involved
- Meet our Board
- Our mission
Executive Director
Victoria Watts
Victoria Watts has served as Executive Director of Moisture Festival since August 2023. Originally from London, UK, her career as an educator, scholar, administrator and artist has allowed her to live and work across the US, Europe and Australia. She holds a PhD in Cultural Studies, an MFA in Dance and Multimedia Technology, and she will never ever stop talking if you ask her a question about dance notation systems.
Board of Directors
Dan Shih
President — A former performer with a Boston musical-comedy troupe, Dan’s appearances are now mainly in court as a civil-litigation attorney. But he’s still a tremendous fan of live theater. Between attending shows, Dan also serves on the boards of PRX and the Center for Children & Youth Justice.
Jamie Marshall
Vice President — Jamie has performed a variété of tasks for the festival until he found his calling as bar manager. This position brings the opportunity to meet the fine audience member and benefactors, see Moisture festival performances—and provides a reason to have a four-tap kegerator in his basement eleven months of the year.
Joe Murphy
Treasurer — Joe discovered theatrical circus in the early aughts and now spends his free time following comedy, circus, and theater. Joe works in video games during the day, but helps the Moisture Festival with bookkeeping and tech support at night.
Walter Harley
Secretary — Walter has been running Moisture Festival sound since 2013, and long before that for Circus Contraption, Cafe Nordo, Teatro Zinzanni, and Baltimore’s Ad Hoc Fiasco. He believes that a smoothly run organization is the safety net that lets performers take risks and make zany art on stage. When not behind a sound board, he is an amateur musician and an aspiring aerialist.
Charly Castors
Charly has performed in fifty countries for the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Queen Elizabeth, President Richard Nixon, Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Sean Penn, George Lucas, and Sharon Stone and has been part of the Teatro ZinZanni team for over a decade. Now focused on directing, teaching, and sharing his knowledge of acrobatics and comedy with the next generation, he’s found a perfect place with the Moisture Festival.
Maque daVis
A former disreputable circus owner, known to indulge in absurdist theater, and seeking to be defamed before his time. He helps around the house, seeks an audience that survives intense laughter, and is curious in what is beyond their reach. Often he asks himself; why now and do you have your ticket yet?
Michael Froebe
Michael spent many hours backstage while growing up watching his parents perform in various community theatres. This developed into a deep respect for all the tasks required to put on a performance and a love to see audiences engaged and laughing. A retired engineer, he now invests much of his time building community through various arts activities.
Bob Greco
Bob Greco is a local software entrepreneur and investor in Seattle since 1980. He enjoys dancing and playing melodeon for the MossyBack Morris Men, a Seattle dance team.
Amy Neuburger
Moisture Festival has proven the best place for Amy to live her core values—celebrating the human spirit through prioritizing self-expression and fun. Amy is (in no particular order) an aerialist, graphic designer, tennis player, mother/wife, traveler, ant keeper, burner, organizer, and party planner.
George Ptasinski
Coming Soon
A 501(c)(3) organization.
(EIN:20-33669334)