The local comedy scene is growing each year, with new performers, groups and venues queuing up to make you laugh. In any community, this must be regarded as a Very Good Thing.

The N.C. Comedy Arts Festival is just around the corner – its three-week run of stand-up, improv and sketch comedy kicks off Jan. 30. Watch this space for details on that.

Meanwhile, area comic Michelle Maclay recently started hosting the monthly “Chuckle and Chortle” comedy night at the ArtsCenter. A Carrboro native, Maclay performed stand-up in New York City for years before returning to her hometown. Maclay also hosts the local comedy podcast “Small Town Funny,” with Durham comic John Sideris.

Maclay said the new ArtsCenter series is designed to showcase the best area comics while also monkeying around with the very concept of a comedy night. “Each month, I choose four comics that I know can put together a good show,” Maclay said. “But you also have to be more than a night of stand-up. So I do a trivia contest with giveaway prizes. It’s basically stuff that’s in my house. At first, people balk a little. But then they see stuff and they’re like, ‘I want that.’”

This month’s lineup features sets from comics Kevin Kinner, Ben Long, Brad Schnurr and Brittany Spruill. Maclay said she hopes to keep expanding the monthly show because the local comedy scene has the potential to be really great: “It can be and it will be.”

When: 8:30 pm, Saturday

Where: 300 E. Main St., Carrboro

Tickets: $5

Info: artscenterlive.org; 919-929-2787