Pittsburgh is a city that doesn’t lack comedic voices—long-form, short-form, musical, mythological and deadpan are just a few styles of stand-up and improvisational comedy on display at this year’s Pittsburgh Comedy Fest (PCF).

“Everyone has a different genre and their own twist on comedy. It’s all about having a different take on something,” Ben Korman, public relations director for PCF, said about the variety of comedy displayed at the fest.

The third annual PCF took place Aug. 25-27 at Henry Heyman Hall in Oakland. The fest was made up of three days of performances by national, local stand-up performers and improv groups, as well as workshops hosted by veteran comedians aimed at teaching the art of comedy to beginners.

PCF was headlined by stand-up comedian Quincy Jones (not to be confused with the music producer), as well as improv duo Sheldon. The final show, which took place Saturday at 10 p.m., saw the two acts sharing the stage in a final comedic blast.

The festival was created in 2013 by Comedy Arts Pittsburgh, and the first fest took place in 2014. Korman said that one of the goals of the organization was to bring people together by using comedy as a universal language, and the comedy workshops taking place at the fest were meant to teach people that language.

“There are some people we got from right here in town to host these workshops, and really it’s all about expressing yourself that is important,” Anna Reilly, executive director of PCF, said about the workshops taking place.

Ten stand-up performers from around the country, as well as eight local performers chosen by a panel of comics, were selected by PCF’s Director of Stand-up Day Bracey, a comedian himself who performed at the fest in its first year, and hosted the stand-up portion of the fest this year in addition to the headliners.

“The joy of it was honestly getting to work with so many skilled people and to see it all come together is really a compliment to everyone involved,” Bracey said about taking on the responsibility of the job.

Performers from local comedic institutions such as the Arcade Comedy Theater and Steel City Improv also played at the fest.

“It was a great crowd, everybody was really well receptive to almost every joke I had,” John Dick Winters, stand-up performer at the fest and local comedian, said about the crowd’s reaction.

Winters, who has performed around the country in cities such as Chicago and New York, believes Pittsburgh’s comedy scene is a “very young community,” but is one that is on the rise. In hopes of seeing the scene grow, he produces a stand-up show at the Arcade Comedy Theater called Technically Sunday every third Saturday of the month at midnight, a concept that is common in other cities, but is the only one in Pittsburgh.

“The comedy scene here is underrated, but it’s nice to see Pittsburgh get recognized as a national scene,” Michelle Riches, a volunteer at the fest who also performs improv at the Arcade Comedy Theater, said.

The theater was filled with laughter during the shows on Friday and Saturday, at both stand-up and improvisational acts.

“Laughing is universal. Not everybody thinks the same thing is funny, but everyone wants to laugh,” Winters said. “When I see that happening, it makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing.”