Speaking of the Great White North - tonight, a cold front came down from British Columbia, bringing with it a rare snow storm to Seattle. From Production Staff member Wally Glenn: "At first I thought it was a freak of weather, but just before I left for the Comedy Underground and scraped snow off my car, I realized that this was no ordinary cold front, it was the ghost of Kerry Talmage coming to take the crown to Canada!"

Sadly, Kerry passed away a few years ago, but before he died, apocryphically, he told Damonde Tschritter to go and win this competition.

It wasn't going to be an easy task. It should be mentioned that Rory Scovel had his best set of the entire competition. Damonde had possibly his weakest set of the week, but with two first place wins, the "Cinderalla Man" somehow managed to pull it together and take first place for the contest.

Here's how they finished. You can see how close it was.

1 Damonde Tschritter Vancouver BC 42.51
2 Paul Myrehaug Toronto 42.21
3 Rory Scovel Washington DC 42.16
4 Tyler Boeh Portland OR 41.63
5 Dylan Mandlsohn Toronto 41.32

Okay, here's what happened on Saturday November 25: Two shows - a matinee at the Historic Everett Theatre and a night show at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton.
Both won by Tyler Boeh. But Damonde Tschritter also has 2 first-place finishes.
Listerally hundreths of a point separate all the competitors.

So now it all comes down to tonight at the Comedy Underground. Be there.

Historic Everett Theatre
1 Tyler Boeh
2 Rory Scovel
3 Dylan Mandlsohn
4 Damonde Tschritter
5 Paul Myrehaug

Admiral
1 Tyler Boeh
2 Paul Myrehaug
3 Dylan Mandlsohn
4 Damonde Tschritter
5 Rory Scovel

Our only regret is that we didn't have a film crew at this show. Or a second show. Literally hundreds of people turned away. Let's do this one every night. Forever.

This show is the first of a 3-show comedy season at the Kirkland Performance Center- followed by New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.

If you couldn't get it, you can join us today at 2 at the Historic Everett Theatre. Or help us welcome in 2007 (can't get rid of 2006 soon enough, myself). Except for this competition, of course. I wish it would never end.

Anyway, Damonde "Long Form" Tschritter most pleased the very diverse group of judges, who included a 20-something sketch comedian, a former editorial cartoonist turned politician, and an ex-Tibetan monk, among others.

But this is such a strong, evenly-matched field (of funny skinny white guys), if you'd have asked the audience, you most likely would have gotten five different answers.

Me? I get out of the car in the huge ferry line, run to the minimart, drop my Blackberry in a puddle, then run, literally, 3/4 of a mile to try to catch up with my ride. As my $#@*-year-old knees start to throb, I realize that Peter has already boarded the ferry, and it is pulling away.

Fortunately, I see the always-pleasant Damonde Tschritter and Paul Myrehaug, who kindly offer me transportation. We catch the next ferry. Phone is not happy. Nor is Paul happy, as his Canadian prairie body does not relate well to the boat experience.

I relate this to the audience during my "curtain talk." They laugh. "Welcome to Vashon!" they shout.

And welcome us they did. The Vashon Theatre is a 50's-era movie theater, still showing movies and the occasional live show, and is being lovingly restored by owners Eileen and Gordon. It was 3/4 full with Islanders: 35+, highly educated, financially comfortable. Pretty PC, too, at least until after intermission when the Cote du Rhone kicked in.

And helping to judge is actor/comedian Alex Borstein of MADTV, who also plays "Lois" on "Family Guy". Yeah - Lois was a judge. Bonus celebrity sighting: her husband, actor Jackson Douglas of "Gilmore Girls."

A great way to kick off the finals. And Mr. Blackberry dried out and is apparently working.
Happy Thanksgiving.

For the night: 1. Damonde 2. Paul 3. Dylan 4. Tyler 5. Rory

Friday Nov. 24 - Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland WA
A few tickets may still be available for this performance, but cannot be purchased online. Please call the box office at 425-893-9900 for tickets or more information.

Saturday Nov. 25 - MATINEE - 2 PM! - Historic Everett Theatre - tickets available
BUY TICKETS NOW
Tickets are $15 and available through etix.com or at the door. This show is all-ages, but may contain adult language and content.

Satuday Nov. 25 - Admiral Theatre, Bremerton - some tickets available
Call the box office at: (360) 373-6743

Sunday Nov. 26 - "FINAL-FINALS" - The Comedy Underground, Seattle - tickets available
BUY TICKETS NOW TicketWeb or in person at the club

The results from the night 6 of the Semi-Finals at the Fairhaven are in, and the finalists have been selected!

First off, we'd really like to thank the Fairhaven for being such a great venue for the entire run of this event. It was very nice of them to host both rounds of the Preliminaries and the semi-finals. The shows were really solid every night and everyone has had a really good time. Including, we assume, the sell-out crowd.

But what you really want to see is the top five!

1 Rory Scovel
2 Damonde Tschritter
3 Tyler Boeh
4 Paul Myrehaug
5 Jeff Dye

The top five moving onto the finals are:

1 Dylan Mandlsohn
2 Tyler Boeh
3 Paul Myrehaug
4 Rory Scovel
5 Damonde Tschritter

Congratulations!

These five will be in the finals starting Wednesday November 22 at the Vashon Theatre, and continuing through Sunday November 26. Brad Upton hosts. See the "Finals Tickets Update" for details.

A special thanks to Kermet Apio for being such a wonderful host and to Dylan Mandlsohn, Tyler Boeh, Paul Myrehaug, Rory Scovel, Damonde Tschritter, Jeff Dye, Geoff Brousseau, Debbie Wooten, Natalie Gray and Myq Kaplan for making this one of the best weeks of comedy I have ever seen.

Wellington didn't offer.

Interestingly, only Geoff Brousseau even acknowledged his existence, tossing out the borscht-belt-ish "nice of you to dress up for the show, sir" as a throwaway non-sequitur early in his set.

Everybody else treated Wellington's presence as an everyday occurence. Which, I suppose, it is at CWU.

Glad we weren't at the University of South Carolina (sports fans, write your own joke here).

Fourth sold out show in a row - and this one had 800 people at it!

If you've never experienced this many people laughing and cheering, it's quite amazing. Once again, the Lucky Eagle Casino was a gracious host, and promoter Mike Wally Walter made sure everything ran smoothly.

Tie 1 Geoff Brousseau
Tie 1 Dylan Mandlsohn
2 Tyler Boeh
3 Jeff Dye
4 Rory Scovel
5 Debbie Wooten

But good news for those of you in Northwest Washington State - this same show will be coming to the World-Famous Fairhaven Pub and Martini Bar in Bellingham on Sunday 11/12. Only $10! Go ahead - live a little!

The top five for the night are:

1 Tyler Boeh
2 Dylan Mandlsohn
3 Geoff Brousseau
4 Rory Scovel
5 Paul Myrehaug

So far every comic and every show has been funny, tight and a pleasure to witness. Join us in Rochester tomorrow night for another really great show! Check the schedule and come see a show!

Tyler Boeh, in the final spot, also rocked the full house, and finished 2nd for the evening. Rory Scovel was 3rd, so Dylan was the only Canadian on the medal stand. But countryman Damonde Tshritter placed 4th, and young Jeff Dye, performing in front of his parents who drove down all the way from Kent, was 5th.

Big casino shows the next two nights - and you know what that means. . .buffets!

No Canadian has ever won the Seattle Comedy Competition although several have come close, prompting a rumor (or rumour) up north that the fix is in.

This might be the year that all changes, as 3 Canadians were "on the podium" at the end of the night.

Note to would-be promoters: There is nothing like a freakin' HUGE feature article in the local paper to fill a room. Yeah, baby. Jazzbones. Sold out. Rockin'.

Thank you Craig Sailor and Bill Hutchens. And Nick Anthony, if you're reading this, there's an great photo of you in 11/14 News Tribune.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/ae/story/6231194p-5441927c.html

Anyway, a couple of people made a hard run at the semi-finals spots - like to single out Dartanion London, whose improv training was put to good use when the mic cut out during his set at the sold-out Fairhaven last night. Dart was able to not only recover, but had a great set which was justly rewarded by a huge response and high scores from the judges.

Also to Hamilton, Ontario's Manolis Zontanos, who hammered out a couple of hot sets at the WAC and Fairhaven.

But when all was said and done, neither effort was enough, as another Canadian, Paul Myerhaug, was also making his run, and beat out both.

But now - the scores go back to zero!
Making the semi-finals from this week:
Paul Myerhaug, Toronto
Myq Kaplan, Boston
Jeff Dye, Seattle
Natalie Gray, LA
Rory Scovel, Washington DC

They will be joining the first group of semi-finalists
Debbie Wooten, Tacoma
Tyler Boeh, Portland
Geoff Brusseau, Seattle
Damonde Tschritter, Vancouver BC
Dylan Mandlsohn, Toronto

For six nights of semi-finals starting Tuesday November 14 at Jazzbones in Tacoma.

I have no idea what that means but it was pretty fun. Ask young Jeff Dye, who took his second consecutive #1.

The theater is gorgeous too, with a huge roccoco proscenium arch and vaulted ceiling. And a bar on the balcony level, which was put to good use by the patrons. Management said this was the first time they ever let the audience bring their drinks into the theater. Hmmm. The bar was tended by volunteers from the local English tea shop, who clearly had the time of their lives.

And who will make the semis from this group? Well, there's a lot of talent and it will come down to the last night. I think that the guy in first overall, Rory Scovel from Washington D.C, is guaranteed to make it, but, mathematically, there are 9 other people still eligible for the 4 remaining spots.

It's all up to you, Bellingham.

For the night:
1..Jeff Dye
2. Myq Kaplan
3. Paul Myerhaug
4. Natalie Gray
5. Rory Scovel

It appeared intimidating to a few of the comics. But, as the event coordinator accurately put it, audiences are audiences and perhaps you can spend too much time analyzing the demographics.

In other words, people come to comedy shows to have fun. And the closer the performers got to treating this crowd like just another audience, the better they did. And "encore points" - the audience-response component of the scoring - were few and far between and had to be earned the old-fashioned way.

Note to comedians: if a room has tiny speakers and the sound distorts when you yell - don't yell. Or if your technique requires yelling, hold the mic away from your mouth instead of kissing the windscreen.

Jeff Dye brought his "chicks in the gym" chunk to the Athletic Club - and killed. Of course, he's been doing it all week, but it was never so apropro. Gold medal.

1. Jeff Dye
2. Paul Myerhaug
3. Natalie Gray
4. Manolis Zontanos
5. Rory Scovel

We wake up to this news headline the day of the show;
"Classes canceled after students' blackface party-
Whitman College holds race symposium after off-campus incident"
Apparently a few students wore blackface to mimic the cast of “Survivor: Cook Islands,” which divided the teams by ethnic origin at the start of the CBS reality show’s current season. As often happens these days, pictures wound up on Facebook and Myspace.

Perfect. A 5-hour drive with warnings of snow in the Cascade passes - and now. . . .

But you know what? It was probably the best show of the tour so far. Fabulous Student Activites folks, great stage crew, packed house, a catered green room, and an enthusiastic audience who howled at everything everyone said. And especially at youngsters Rory Scovel and Jeff Dye, who were definitely in their element. But probably the most-talked-about part of the show came from comedian Dan Rock.

Well, yessir, Dan goes on stage with the bottle of paint, starts a brilliant riff on racism, youth, and experience while "greening up." It was made up on the spot, and freakin' brilliant. Greatly appreciated, by the way, by the audience. But -

The paint starts to seep into a corner of his eye. . .and, in pain, he leaves the stage in less than the madatory 3 minutes. Half-point penalty. It will cost him.

The order of finish this night:
1. Rory Scovel
2. Jeff Dye
3.MYQ Kaplan
4. Natalie Gray
5. Steve Monroe