Why Is That Funny?

By Hady Mawajdeh,

Published February 13, 2015 at 12:10 PM EST

The North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival ends this Sunday.

Comedy is a subjective artform. What makes one audience laugh out loud will not always make another crack up.

But, the fear of bombing in front of an auditorium of strangers does not stop contestants in the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival's "Carolina's Funniest Comic" contest.

Host Frank Stasio talks with DSI Comedy's resident instructor on stand-up comedy, Zach Ward; local comedian Lauren Faber; and comedian Maria Bamford about the art of stand-up comedy.

More information on the Carolina's Funniest Comic can be found here.

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Hady Mawajdeh

Hady Mawajdeh is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. He listened to Fresh Air growing up and fell in love with public radio. He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication at Texas State University and specialized in electronic media. He worked at NPR affiliate stations KUT and KUTX in Austin, Texas as an intern, producer, social media coordinator, and a late-night deejay.

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Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio