Ian Stuart (GHS 2004) is an upstanding, up and coming, stand-up comedian. He also produces and organizes comedy shows around the state like the one he recently headlined in at Bissell Brothers Brewery at Thompson’s Point, where all proceeds from ticket sales and bar tabs went to support Camp Sunshine.

Stuart is the founder of the Portland Maine Comedy Festival, held early in July, featuring national and regional comedians. He is also keeps busy teaching stand-up comedy classes at Empire, a performance venue in Portland.

Stuart is a funny guy. He thinks maybe he was born that way since he has been interested in comedy for as long as he can remember. As a kid, he says he had every Farside and Calvin and Hobbes book ever released. He was also obsessed with Mel Brooks and Monty Python films and got a taste for performing when he auditioned for a play in junior high because it had a scene from The Holy Grail. The first albums he bought with his own money were John Pinette’s “Show me the Buffet” and Chris Rock’s “Born Suspect.” Now he has released a comedy album of his own called “Day Drinker” on Acuity Records.

Stuart is hoping that his mother is not going to read this, but while in high school, he snuck in to the Comedy Connection to watch local comedians try out material. “Senior year, I occasionally performed at bars I shouldn’t have legally been in,” he said.

After graduating from GHS, Stuart attended Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, majoring in business, but entertainment was never far from his thoughts. He performed occasionally at the Comedy Connection in Portland while completing his degree and then worked in group homes after college, before deciding to pursue comedy full-time.

Stuart has performed all over New England and Canada, at colleges and comedy venues in Chicago, Texas, Ohio and New Mexico. He loves traveling and he loves making people laugh, adding, “I like to give people a temporary distraction from a long work week.”

To Stewart, comedians are storytellers and he honed his skills hanging around a campfire with family and friends as a kid. He believes that being from Maine has definitely put a stamp on his style of comedy. “People from Maine have a natural wit and a talent for storytelling, it’s hard to find someone from Maine that doesn’t have a funny story to tell,” he said. Stuart is constantly working to perfect his craft, seeking help and feedback from many of the comedians who perform in the area. “If you ask questions and are interested in the response, you’ll get help from everyone,” he said.

Stuart loved growing up in Gorham. Participating in school plays was a highlight for him. In drama club, he was first introduced to improvisation, an important comedic skill. He enjoyed being in garage bands, and still has a tape-deck demo made in the 8th grade. He was also one of the skateboarders who helped facilitate the skateboard park behind Narragansett school. “It was a great lesson in planning and executing an idea at a young age,” Stuart said. It is a skill he uses in his professional life, too.

Stuart also appreciated many of his teachers at Gorham High: Mr. Weed, a man who helped Stuart understand the meaning of “DIY”; Mr. Bond, who had a fabulous speaking voice; Mr. Bell, who taught him to think for himself; Mr. Strout, an amazing English teacher and drama coach; and Mr. Benet, the best math teacher whose dry-wit made math class fun. He loved Mr. Mathieu’s band class and is still friends with kids he met in band.

While Stuart likes to find humor in everyday life, he also knows how to handle adversity. When his girlfriend, Sarah, was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, he accompanied her to every treatment, even though his night-time work frequently took him out of town.

Thankfully, Sarah is now healthy and cancer free. They live in Portland with a dog, three cats and a ghost that haunts their various rooms. Stuart likes to hike with his dog and enjoys directing and editing videos made with his comedian friends. Stuart is the son of John Stuart, a musician and producer, and Anne Stuart, a teacher in the Gorham school system. Sister Charlotte (GHS ’06) is also a teacher.

To contact Stuart, visit DelaBookings@gmail.com.