Festival draws best of the locals and the rest

Nine years in, the Boston Comedy Festival keeps changing, with new venues, new shows, and new comics. Which means that Festival co-founder Jim McCue has one thought on his mind.

"I hope I survive to a 10th," he says, laughing.

McCue has been busy this week making sure all of the little things are done for a full week of shows, starting Sunday with the Comedy Contest at the Hard Rock Cafe and closing next Saturday with a gala at the Cutler Majestic, at which the Smothers Brothers will receive a lifetime achievement award.

"We have a lot of industry coming this year, agents and managers and whatnot," says McCue, "and we're trying to make sure that they're happy and having a good time and seeing good talent."

The Hard Rock is a new venue to the festival, but the newest venue is Mottley's Comedy Club in the Trinity bar at Faneuil Hall. Mottley's opens "unofficially" with Imagine Movie Night's slate of short films on Monday. The official opening is Sept. 19 with the Comedy All-Stars show featuring Shane Mauss, Patty Ross, Dan Sally, Kelly MacFarland, and Dave Rattigan.

The club is owned and operated by comics Jon Lincoln and Tim McIntire and entrepreneur Jeff Fairbanks. Lincoln and Fairbanks sold the Comedy Lounge in Hyannis six months ago and had been looking for a new venue in Boston. They partnered with McIntire after a discussion on McIntire's website about how clubs could be run to better benefit the scene and the comics, and then found the room and partnered with the festival.

As a veteran of the local scene, McIntire has seen a divide between "alternative" comics, who mostly play in Cambridge, and "road" comics who play suburban clubs mostly north of Boston. Mottley's will aim to bridge that gap.

"I've seen plenty of comics in Cambridge that would work out of [Route] 128, and I've seen plenty of comics on the road that would kill in Cambridge," he says. "I think it's kind of a meaningless divide."

Mauss, who headlines the club Sept. 26 and 27, is the perfect example of what Mottley's will be about, according to McIntire. "He's a legitimate headliner in his own right, and yet he's not exactly a household name in Boston yet, which is ridiculous," he says.

"I'm very excited about Mottley's," says McCue. "I think it's going to open up a lot of things for a lot of comedians in Boston."

Here are some of the highlights from the Boston Comedy Festival, including several shows at Mottley's. Check www.bostoncomedyfestival.com for a complete schedule and ticket pricing.

SUNDAY
Contest preliminaries, Hard Rock Cafe, 7 and 9 p.m.: The contest is the carrot that brings a lot of comics from out of town to the festival. Sunday's preliminaries feature a mix of great homegrown comics like Sean Sullivan (the Untrainables) and former Boston comics coming back, like Dan Hirshon and Weston native Selena Coppock, and out-of-towners like Victor Varnado ("Julien Donkey-Boy," "The Adventures of Pluto Nash").

TUESDAY
Funny Females, Mottley's Comedy Club, 8 p.m.: This will be a homecoming for several comics -- Coppock and Belmont native Giulia Rozzi of "Mortified" come from New York, Newton native Danielle Stewart is back from Los Angeles, and Nicole Chiles returns from Atlanta. Boston's Nicole Luparelli and Emily Singer are also on the bill.

WEDNESDAY
Hell Gig/Punk Rock Stand-up, Mottley's Comedy Club, 8 p.m.: Dan Crohn hosts his Punk Rock Stand-up show at different venues around Boston every month, usually combining young local comics with young local bands. The show had to be moved from the Abbey Lounge and will now split time with Hell Gig, which features comics talking about their worst shows. What's more punk rock than a hell gig? The comic not to miss here is Baron Vaughn, a former Boston comic who is now a regular at New York's hipper clubs.

Moms' Night Out, Nick's Comedy Stop, 7 and 8:30 p.m.: "Mom comedy" seems to be a growth industry these days, with Nickelodeon's "Funniest Mom in America" contest and now this touring show. Starring comic moms Stephanie Blum, Mary Kennedy, and Laurie McDermott.

THURSDAY Boston Legends Show, Mottley's Comedy Club, 8 p.m.: This is the show to catch to see some of Boston's best veteran comics, including Mike Donovan, Kevin Knox, McCue, and the most underrated of the bunch, Ken Rogerson. At his best, Rogerson's imagination is a thing to behold. At his worst, he's just a good comic.

SEPT. 20
The Smothers Brothers at the Boston Comedy Awards and contest finals, Cutler Majestic Theatre, 8 p.m.: The Smothers Brothers will be on hand to receive the festival's lifetime achievement award, and the winner of the contest will be announced. See next week's Comedy Notes for an interview with Tommy Smothers.

Around town
Gary Gulman plays the Wilbur Theatre tomorrow . . . Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter will lead a discussion on the "War on Terror" at 7 p.m. before the Tony Clifton show at the Wilbur Theatre Sunday (see Steve Greenlee's interview with Clifton in Sunday's Globe) . . . Giggles in Saugus hosts a benefit for comic Jim Lauletta, who was unable to work in August, starring Dick Doherty, Paul D'Angelo, John David, and Kevin Knox Thursday at 8 p.m.