Knoxville arbitrates between UT academic transience and Appalachian permanence. Market Square rooms fill with students cycling through, while Old City hosts the families who've watched the cycles for generations. Fort Sanders draws the campus energy. Bearden keeps the suburban buffer. The comedy here navigates the tension between university rotation and mountain-town stability. Open mics become neutral ground where both timelines sit together. The comics who honor Knoxville's dual rhythm find audiences grateful someone understood the city outlasts every graduation—it just keeps welcoming while the Smokies watch.