This year, the Boston Comedy Festival marks 25 years of highlighting talented local, national and even international comedians across Greater Boston.

The festival was founded in 2000 by siblings Jim McCue, a stand-up comedian, and Helen DiMarzio, a graphic designer and brand expert. The two are still producing the festival, helping to select the talent that takes the stage and the up-and-coming comedians they’ll highlight through the festival’s comedy competition.

McCue says they got the idea for the festival after attending the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal and doing a special show there called the Boston Tea Party.

“We got a little bit of heat out of that, and I thought, ‘Why not try to get the industry to come here and see all the great acts here in Boston?’ So that’s what we did,” McCue told GBH’s Under the Radar.

Nearly three decades later, the festival has featured and honored comedians who’ve become massive household names, including Bill Burr, Lewis Black, Marc Maron and Nate Bargatze, who won the comedy competition back in 2010.

McCue says part of the fun of the festival is catching comedians who are still perfecting their work.

“The acts really have a chance to build their act before industry sees them,” McCue says. “I always thought that was an advantage. I think that in L.A. or New York, they get seen when they’re still just very new and very horrible. And first impressions are hard to forget. I know it sounds crazy, but I think that’s part of it.”

With so much competition from social media and digital platforms, what continues to make the festival a stand-up destination for comedians?

“I think Boston is a really special place to do comedy,” said comedian Andrew Della Volpe, who’s competing at the festival. “I’ve been lucky to have this be my base with the history of legends like Lenny Clarke and Tony V and all the people that have come through here and are still here that we get to learn from. And I think the people of Boston and New England are a special group to perform for, because they’ve got that New England rough-and-tough attitude but they’re also highly intelligent and interested.”

And DiMarzio, who’s the creative director of the festival, says with a recent explosion of interest in comedy, her work has gone from niche to a hot topic of conversation.

“You know, when I used to tell people that I produced a comedy festival, they thought it was odd,” DiMarzio said. “And now I meet somebody at a party and I say, ‘Oh, I produce the Boston Comedy Festival,’ they’re recommending comics to me. I think because of social media, it’s just found a lot of fans. So I think it’s definitely a lot more popular.”

For more information on the Boston Comedy Festival, visit the festival website .

Guests

  • Jim McCue , stand-up comedian and co-founder of the Boston Comedy Festival
  • Helen DiMarzio, creative director and co-founder of the Boston Comedy Festival
  • Andrew Della Volpe , Boston-based comedian competition at this year’s Boston Comedy Festival