DiMarzio echoes his language. “I think we try every year to make it something special,” she says. She highlights the BCF’s comedy competition, which brings in dozens of comedians to face off in several rounds, before the winner is chosen from the final eight comedians at the finals event that ends the festival. “The contest has always been the heart of the festival, and so we always just kind of start with that, to get the best people to come into the contest.”

The Boston Comedy Festival has been a lot of things over the past 25 years. Sometimes it’s part film festival — they’ve hosted animation and short films. During the pandemic, the festival went virtual for a year, with all of the comedians performing in front of a custom BCF background to make it feel like an actual festival. “Every year, we do stuff that works and we do stuff that doesn’t,” says McCue, “and we just keep rolling along.”

McCue has been doing comedy since the early ‘90s, while DiMarzio is a creative designer. She can’t remember when, exactly, she started helping out, but she has been immersed in comedy for most of the festival’s history. They are always looking for fresh talent, but DiMarzio says she sometimes has to remind McCue that a perceived up-and-comer may actually be a 10-year stand-up veteran. “We have to adjust our idea of who is new,” she says.

They don’t start with a big budget and figure out what talent they can buy; they build each festival show by show with the different venues, which this year includes City Winery, the Comedy Studio, the Rockwell, the Somerville Theatre, and the Berklee Performance Center. The idea is to appeal to the widest possible range of tastes. “We’ve always had the feeling of: Whoever you think is the best comedian, you’re right,” says McCue. “So we’re gonna be trying to get the best of every different kind of thing.”

Here’s a rundown of what you can see at the Boston Comedy Festival. Check www.bostoncomedyfest.com for showtimes and tickets.

THE CONTEST This starts on April 1 at the Rockwell, and bounces between there, the Comedy Studio, and City Winery. It runs the length of the fest, with the winner crowned at the finals April 5 at the Somerville Theatre. It’s a good opportunity to catch a variety of comedians, but it’s also a showcase for Boston comics to host and do 15-20 minutes while votes are being tabulated. You’ll see some of the city’s best there, including Andrew Mayer, Niki Luparelli, Kathe Farris, Alex Giampapa, Kelly MacFarland, Will Smalley, Robbie Printz, and many others. It’s a display for agents and bookers coming to town to scout. “The whole purpose of this thing [we] started 25 years ago was just trying to get industry to come here and see the acts,” says McCue.

THE FUNNY TOGETHER TOUR If you’re looking for clean comedy, this is your show. Providence comedian Rhonda Corey, who created the tour in 2023, is joined by June Bug Colson and Mike Murray. April 3, 7 p.m. $20. The Rockwell.

EDDIE PEPITONE If you missed The Bitter Buddha on his co-headlining tour with Chris Gethard in October, you can see him do his own show here. In his “In Ruins” special, Pepitone says that even though he rails against corporate culture, he’s enjoying the space in his new Honda Element. “I like that, because there’s room to weep,” he says. “I can regret my past life decisions in this car with satellite radio.” April 3, 2:30 p.m. $20-$35. City Winery.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN COMEDY This show provides a spotlight on comedians from LGBTQ+ and immigrant backgrounds, hosted by drag performer Miss Uchawi, featuring Ugandan-born comedian Birungi, “Beer With a Queer” host Jeff Klein, stand-up and speaker Madelein Murphy, and headlined by Boston’s own Corey Rodrigues. April 4, 7 p.m. $20. The Rockwell.

EMO PHILIPS The off-the-wall comic is a longtime friend of the festival, and a joy to watch. One year, he had a great visual gag where he came out at the Rockwell in a neck-to-ankles trench coat, and over the course of several jokes, without drawing attention to it, took off the coat, and slowly made it disappear into his pants pocket. At another fest, he came onstage after the finals at the Somerville Theatre with a broom and started sweeping the stage as people filed out. “He was so committed to the bit,” says DiMarzio. April 5, 7 p.m. $25-$30. The Rockwell.

BEST OF THE BOSTON COMEDY FESTIVAL: TO BENEFIT THE COMEDY GIVES BACK FIRE FUND This show best exemplifies the kitchen-sink spirit of the Festival, featuring comics from different generations with different styles. Jim McCue, the crowd work expert. Paul D’Angelo, the ‘80s Boom comic with a knack for a rant. Storyteller and sometime nerd Bethany Van Delft. The sly but aloof Dan Boulger. Karen Morgan, a Georgia transplant living in Maine. And sharp-eyed former Boston comic and one-time theater kid Erin Maguire. McCue is happy to be able to help comics hurt by the LA fires through Comedy Gives Back. “Everybody’s not up and running out there again,” he says. “They still need help.” April 5, 7:30 p.m. $25. Berklee Performance Center

AMY MILLER “I think the most 40-year-old thing I do, though, is I do have a special word for when I’ve had so much white wine I wanna get in a fist fight,” says the Los Angeles-based Miller. “It’s just ‘chardonnangry.’ Y’all can use that.” She headlines two shows with host Courtney Reynolds and feature act Will Smalley. April 5, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $25. The Comedy Studio.

BOSTON COMEDY FINALS This is where the final eight (barring a tie) contestants will compete for the top prize in front of a panel of judges. BCF veteran Ryan Hamilton will be on hand to receive the Comedian of the Year honor, and Boston comic Kenny Rogerson, nicknamed The Viper for his savage and inventive wit, gets the Lifetime Achievement Award. Tony V, last year’s Lifetime Achievement winner, hosts. April 5, 8 p.m. $30. The Somerville Theatre.

“How did you get those guys to vote for you … how did you convince them to put you in charge?

“I think you won your last election at 64 percent of the vote … so you’re incredibly popular in Boston, and they trust you to run the city. How did you convince these Boston people?”

“I still don’t understand how you got elected. I mean, obviously you’re good at your job and your charming and all that, but that was enough for them to convince them?”

“If you can become the mayor of Boston, maybe you know one of arguably the most racist cities in America, then maybe there is hope for everyone yet.”

Ooof.

Wu handled herself deftly, but there were moments Tuesday night when she looked more comfortable sitting in front of a hostile, Republican-led Congressional hearing in Washington than responding to Chieng’s attempt at humor.

“You might be surprised by Boston. Next time you come, we’ll have to take you around a little more,” Wu said. “We’re an incredibly diverse, welcoming, beautiful city … we are majority people of color, we’re 28 percent people born from another country. Boston is a place where people have always come for almost 400 years to make good in the world.”

I usually love Chieng, a Malaysia-born comedian who spent part of his childhood in Manchester, N.H. He invited Wu on because he wants to highlight Asian American leaders and Democrats who are trying to figure out how to stand up to the Trump administration. It was clear that he respects, and even admires, Wu.

This was supposed to be a friendly conversation, but it felt more like friendly fire. I guess that’s what happens when a running joke falls flat.

Let’s be clear this stereotype of Boston being super racist is getting super old. We’re 50 years past the ugly days of court-ordered busing in Boston to desegregate public schools. The scrappy white Boston of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movies was fading 20 years ago, and feels even more dated today.

We have long been a majority-minority city — for a quarter of a century now. Our last two mayors have been women of color, as is the current City Council President, the state Attorney General, and one of our members of Congress.

It felt like Chieng was hoping he could go viral like “SNL Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che did in 2017 during a segment about the upcoming Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.

“For three hours, I just don’t want to talk about any social issues or politics,” Che said. “I just want to relax, turn my brain off and watch the blackest city in America beat the most racist city I’ve ever been to.”

Yes, Che got blowback from Bostonians, and even an invitation from then Mayor Marty Walsh to come to Boston for a sit down to talk about his experiences with racism in the city.

But I don’t think Che ever met with Walsh. The comedian stood by his comment and tried to tamp down controversy by later posting on Instagram: “Listen boston, my grandma is racist too, but i still love her. & i still love you.”

I hope Chieng takes up Wu’s invitation to come to Boston so she can show him what the city’s really like. He’ll begin to understand how Wu became mayor, which is putting in the work over the past decade to get votes from every corner of the city as an at-large City Councilor and later her run for mayor. She won election after election because voters want someone who looks like them in City Hall.

Chieng has been to Boston because that’s where his family used to come to grocery shop for Malaysian foods they couldn’t find in New Hampshire.

“Boston is my childhood Chinatown,” he said. “We go there for supplies to bring it back to New Hampshire. You know, there’s not a lot of Malaysian grocery stores in Manchester, New Hampshire….So, I know, Boston.”

Chieng went on to say that he has a “lot of love for Boston” and how people were “nice” to him when he has been there.

Well, nice isn’t our reputation either. But this is a city that has worked hard to move beyond our racist past. And that’s no laughing matter.

Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.