Various Artists: 10,000 Laughs

The Boston International Comedy & Movie Festival was created in 2000 to showcase New England comedians, and it doesn’t take long to recognize this is a regional show. Tom Cotter, second up, fills his routine with Irish jokes (he’s too white to ever get a tan) and drinking barbs. And there’s probably more comedy talent in the Boston area than you realize because this two-CD set is packed with sixteen different comedians. But unless you watch Comedy Central like a soap opera addict, or are an insomniac David Letterman/Jay Leno fan that never misses a comic guest, most of these names will be new to you. There are no comedians like Steven Wright here (a man whose unique dry wit put Boston comedy on the map a few decades ago). But there is a lot of funny stuff scattered throughout these CDs. I don’t think everybody will laugh 10,000 times before it’s all over; your mileage may vary. But you’ll chuckle a lot, that’s for sure.