Daily News | Can Williamsport, Pa. be funnier? This New York comedian and cartoonist wants to try.
in the Poconos, and rural Pennsylvania towns offered remote workers free housing to come visit. A hotel in downtown Williamsport lured Flake and her family in with some weekend specials.
“Basically, it was pretty affordable and it had a pool,” she recalled. “The more I started coming out here, the more I started noticing the arts scene, the great bookstore, and I realized that I wanted to have some sort of permanent connection.” While most writer’s residencies are nestled in silence and seriousness in deeply rural areas, St. Nell’s Humor Residency is on Rural Avenue, just a few blocks from downtown Williamsport and a mile from a Wegmans. It’s a simple, sturdy house, built in 1903 with tall ceilings and stunning pine floors, in a real neighborhood. Flake swooned when she first saw the housing stock in the city on repeat visits.
“It’s just hit after hit around here,” she said. “People had money to build these beautiful houses. This house is 120 years old and it’s one of many beautiful, graceful places here.”“St. Nell’s will be a writing space, a respite, and a community for the 51% of the population historically branded as ‘not funny,’ ” the Kickstarter promised.— could have been triple the amount or more in suburbs of Philadelphia and New York. The two-week residencies are free and open to families, she said, but St.
On Oct. 1, Flake hosted a comedy show in a former pajama factory in Williamsport with a mix of comedians from New York and local talent. A crowd of about 100 filed into the industrial space, drinking craft beer and local coffee. The scene had all the aesthetics of a big-city comedy show, save the occasional camouflage or Penn State jacket. Comics, including