The first year they held it, the Murphys Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny lost so much money it wasn't funny. "The only reason we did it the second year was we had no choice," recalls the director, Richard Cook, exaggerating only slightly, perhaps. They simply had to hold the event again to raise funds to pay off some of the £70,000 to £100,000 owed from the first year.
Now in its eighth year, the festival that opens tomorrow and runs until Monday is on a sound financial footing.
This year the Arts Council has come on board to support the event for the first time, with a grant of €95,000.
Once again Kilkenny will be bursting at the seams for the June bank holiday weekend as 25,000 visitors arrive to see the best international and Irish comedians doing their stuff in about a dozen venues throughout the city.
And while there are new features this year such as a film series, cartoon exhibition and literary showcase - which explains the Arts Council's belated recognition of the event - it would be misleading to suggest the festival is getting bigger all the time.
The truth is that it has always been big.
When people put it to Mr Cook, who founded the festival with his colleague from Bickerstaffe Theatre, Lynn Cahill, that he must be surprised at the way the event has taken off, he tells them no, he had thought from the beginning that it "had a real fighting chance".
Not many people believed him, he recalls, when he went around to venues in the city and asked if he could use them for a comedy festival. "The feeling was 'we think you're bonkers but it's not going to affect us, so sure, you can have the place.' "
Although major acts like Rich Hall, Emo Phillips and Dom Irrera return year after year, the festival has maintained its edge by making sure new acts come in each year alongside the established favourites, and by never allowing television cameras to come in.
The only place you can see the Cat Laughs festival is live, in Kilkenny.
Unlike other major comedy festivals, it also has no awards ceremony. With the competition element removed, performers tend to be a little more adventurous with their material, says Mr Cook.
A modest pricing policy is also maintained, the aim being to break even rather than make a substantial profit.
As well as the three named above, American acts performing this year include Lewis Black, Jeffrey Ross, Chris Bliss and Danny Bevins.
Black Books star Bill Bailey is back, as is Britain's only Iranian stand-up, Omid Djalili.
Among the Irish acts will be Jason Byrne, Owen O'Neill, Deirdre O'Kane, Ed Byrne, Colin Murphy, Dara Ó Briain, Barry Murphy and Pat Shortt.
To find out more, the festival's box-office telephone number is 056-63837 and it has a website at www.murphyscatlaughs.com