2006 Seattle International Comedy Competition: Round 2 Night 3

Round 2 Night 3 - Whitman College

(L-R Steve Monroe, Natalie Gray, Harrold Gomez, Jeff Dye, Myq Kaplan's head, Rory Scovel) Photo by Peter Greyy

Whitman College is a tiny, fairly exclusive private school in Walla Wally, WA. Yes, there really is a Walla Walla. About 270 miles SE of Seattle, it is home to Whitman, a federal penitentiary, and the world headquarters of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

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.

I must say my heart was moving closer to my throat when Dan Rock walked into the dressing room with a bottle of green tempera paint. As soon as we saw it we knew what was about to happen.

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