By Rose Scherlis

Mario Barros

A humor festival is coming to Boston Sept. 9 through 12, organized by Mario Barros of Somerville.

The first Boston International Humor Festival, BOSTOONS 2010, will include graphic humor, literary humor, and stage humor. It will contain an exposition of 210 cartoons on the subjects of freedom and the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, and three free nights of stand-up comedy at Cambridge College.

“We chose the topics we did for the cartoon contest because this is the first festival and we wanted to deal with topics that were close and dear to the city. What better way than to dedicate this festival to freedom, to liberty, and to a person who, although many people think different things about him, around the world has earned a lot of respect?” Barros said.

The festival will be a gathering of many diverse talents, as 494 artists from 67 countries will be participating. “Words cannot describe the incredible variety and creativity,” Barros said of the event.

One of the participating comedians is Octavio Rodriguez, whose uncle was considered the most talented Cuban comedian in history. Rodriguez has been in the business for thirty-five years and has now succeeded his uncle as the man considered the best comedian in Cuba.

Octavio Rodriguez

“Octavio Rodriguez is a very proper man with a wicked sense of humor,” Dinia Del Sol, Rodriguez’s executive producer said. “He has a captivating persona and he takes the audience on a real trip during all the shows he has presented, which he writes from beginning to end. His sense of humor is smart, and sends you home with new ideas feeling like you have not wasted your time.”

Pepe Pelayo is another comedian who will be performing. He is also the president of the humorous texts contest. “As a comedian I hope to make the Bostonian people think and laugh, and that way bring them a few minutes of joy. That’s enough for me,” Pelayo said. “I want to call all the planet’s inhabitants to seek and feel humor as the main antidote to fight the stress, the sadness, the rage, the anger, the misery, and all the negative emotions we do have inside us.”

Pelayo says some sources of inspiration are Mark Twain, Woody Allen, Chesterton, Monty Python and Chaplin, Fontanarrosa, Quino and Les Luthiers, Jacques Tati, Jardial Poncela, and the Cuban Tres Patines and La Sena del Humor.

Humor festivals are traditional in other countries, but uncommon in the United States. “Around the world, there are more than 125 different humor festivals each year,” Barros said. “We are breaking ground here by bringing it to America… It is the first one but we are expecting to do a good job… We are expecting a massive response of people, especially from Somerville. It is going to be very exciting and people are going to love not only the cartoons but the stand up comedy and the lectures as well.”

Barros has been working with humor since 1985. He wrote humor for magazines in Cuba until, in 1987, he found a comedy group. Barros moved to the United States fifteen years ago. For seven years he directed the drama club at Somerville High School, where he currently works as a history teacher. He recently started to publish his humor as well as the work of his friends.

“Last year I thought we should have this festival.” Barros said. “It is a laborious effort but it is a labor of love. We expect to have many more festivals though the years… We want to become a traveling show, touring different colleges and universities.”