The NC Comedy Arts Festival was created in 2001 to showcase Chicago-style improvisation to Southern improvisers and Carolina audiences. The NC Comedy Arts Festival — formerly Dirty South Improv Festival — invited four improv acts to perform and take workshops on the campus of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) Sept. 1-3, 2012. This small invitational quickly became one of the most talked about events on the improv festival circuit and the largest festival of its kind in the country.