Laugh Track Comedy Festival: Funny Film Block

Few people throw a good party once in their life time, let only once a year, but Johnathan McFarlane and Tim DeMasters manage to do it Denver-style biannually. The duo kicked off 2011 with another successful year of the "Festivus Film Festival" and this week gets things rolling for their second "Laugh Track Comedy Festival." This Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16, Laugh Track is packing in all the hilarity Denver can handle with Stand-up Comics and Short Comedy Films. Here's what's in store for the "Funny Film Block."

The Friday July, 15 film program screens at 5:30 p.m. with 7 short films: The Short Australian Film "Squeeze" puts a twist on the Shawshank-Redemptive mode of prison breaks, Jeffrey Palmer's "Mixed Messages" where 9 messages plus 1 man equals Zero luck, "Boffin & Boffin" from Ed Blythe experiments some fertile scenarios, a pair of Robins from the UK pick up on parenting lessons in "Love Nest," then back to Australia for a mock music video of Melbourne hipsters in "Bedroom Philosopher '" Northcote (So Hungover)", followed by another Australian short from Trevor Matthews on the magic of Ebay in "Pisces, Arise!" The block closes out with the life-changing tale of a Traffic safety worker in Kurt Kuenne's "Slow." The Friday screening is followed up by another Funny Film Block at 7:15 p.m. with 8 more shorts.

The Saturday July, 16 film program screens at 6:00 p.m. with the Aaron Ralston inspired "127 seconds" from Chris Buongiorno, Craig Knowles' "The Goose" takes a shot at a B-ball court incident, romance rips off the page in Amanda Daniels' "A Burning Tale of Desire," Ian McCormack gives us "Shark Cop" about -- well a shark who is a cop, Denver's own Phil Mirabito cooks up a tale of man vs. lobster in "Crustacean Crises," an Australian short takes us into the bizarro art world with "Ipso Facto," and the final piece submerges into the blowhard League of Whalers in "Whaling and the Inherent Dangers Therein."

Tickets for each Funny Film Block can be purchased separately at $10, or a full festival pass costs just $25, which gets you access to all the film screenings and the stand-up comedy events on both days. Screenings are held at The Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Avenue, Denver, CO 80212. Check the website for full schedule, comedy events, after parties and purchase passes online at www.laughtrackcomedyfest.com.