Fort Smith straddles by relationship to the state line. Garrison Avenue rooms fill with Arkansas families who've been here for generations, while South Fort Smith hosts the Oklahoma commuters who cross daily. Downtown draws the revitalization crowd. Northside operates in its own bubble. Massard and Van Buren-adjacent add the working-class roots. The comedy here navigates populations that share a metro but claim different states. Open mics become neutral ground where Arkansas and Oklahoma sit together. The comics who honor Fort Smith's specific border identity find audiences grateful someone understood the River Valley isn't one state or the other—it's both.