Burlington stratifies by relationship to the cause. Downtown rooms fill with activists who want comedy that advances the mission, while Old North End hosts the artists who want comedy that challenges everything. South End draws the musicians. Church Street operates in its own tourist bubble. Riverside and Winooski-Adjacent add the working-class roots the progressive image doesn't show. The comedy here navigates populations that share a politics but experience different stakes. Open mics become the rare space where the committed and the skeptical sit together. The comics who honor both find audiences across every ideology.