LAYTON – Once you’ve invited red necks, pirates, and rockers to your party, Bigfoot’s got to show up at some point.

This year, the folks at Gangrene Film Festival are happy to have him. The home-grown comedic film festival is coming to the Ed Kenley Amphitheater Sept. 2 starting at 7 p.m. with “Size 12,” featuring the local Sasquatch band Wasasquatch, funny movies from all over the world, some surprises, and plenty of crazy fun.

“It’s family-friendly, goofy, silly fun,” said Ben Fuller, who sits on the Gangrene board and serves as acting producer the night of the show. “I’ve been all over the world, and you couldn’t get something like this anywhere else.”

This year’s festival will include 13 films, some which come from as far away as France, Canada, and New Zealand. The short films will be divided into a general session starting at 7 p.m. and a late session at 10 p.m. (for shorts with a little more violence in them, for example).

In one short, “MythOmania,” a pathological liar accidentally stumbles into a self-help group for the extremely gullible. Another, “Sudden Death,” follows the outbreak of a fatal disease that causes people to spontaneously break out into song and dance numbers before falling over dead.

In the late session, “10 EZ Steps for Mortician Success” follows some morgue hijinks, and “Making Funny Stuff II” chronicles the disastrous efforts of three men to make the funniest TV show in the world.

“We have returning filmmakers who think Gangrene is the greatest thing in the world,” said Fuller. “They’ll make films just for our festival.”

Wasasquatch, this year’s live entertainment, is a rock band that will be making their first public appearance (to humans, at least). The group’s website states that they live in the Wasatch mountains and only enter civilization for gigs.

In between the films are question and answer sessions from the filmmakers, along with stunts, tricks, and bits of strangeness that Gangrene organizers never reveal before the night of the show.

“It’s funnier when it’s a surprise,” said Fuller.

Tickets for the show can be purchased online at tickets.davisarts.org. The magic, however, can only be experienced firsthand.

“My favorite part of the festival always comes sometime in the middle of the night, when we’re all sitting in the soundbooth laughing, and the 800-1,000 people in the audience are laughing,” said Fuller. “Everyone gets a night of side-splitting laughter. It’s the best feeling in the world.

“You’ve got to experience it to realize how wonderful a thing this is.”

jwardell@davisclipper.com