It is produced by the D.C.-based online magazine and event company Brightest Young Things (often abbreviated as BYT) and curated by Tig Notaro.
The festival opened on October 22 with an opening night headlined by Patton Oswalt with Rory Scovel and Kyle Kinane at the Lincoln Theatre and closed with a Sarah Silverman headlined-show featuring Chelsea Peretti, Steve Agee, Laura Silverman and Tig Notaro at the 9:30 Club on October 25.
[4] The 2013 Bentzen Ball opening night was headlined by Notaro once again, joined by Doug Benson, Wyatt Cenac, Everything is Terrible, Heather Lawless and others on October 10 at the 9:30 Club.
Other acts who performed at the 2013 festival were Nick Offerman, Nick Kroll, Garfunkel and Oates, Moshe Kasher, Megan Mullally, Brody Stevens, Kate Flannery, Sara Schaefer, Martha Kelly, Rachel Dratch, Michael Hitchcock, Janet Varney, Jessica Makinson, Cole Stratton, Graham Elwood, Brandon Wardell, Andy Wood, Jena Friedman, and others, plus DJ sets by They Might Be Giants and Animal Collective.
[5] In 2016, Notaro released the first comedy album on Bentzen Ball Records on July 8, Aparna Nancherla: Just Putting it Out There.