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Thanks to Everyone for the Best Comp Ever
This was definitely the best Seattle Comedy Competition ever - over 6000 people came to the shows, all of which rocked. Also the first year in history with media sponsors. Our thanks to KMTT 103.7 The Mountain and The Marty Riemer Show, home of the 7:20 Funnies, and the Seattle Weekly; to staff members Wally Glenn, Peter Greyy, Rosalie Gale, and Pavel Simsa; to our long-standing venues Kirkland Performance Center, Comedy Underground, Admiral Theatre, Skagit Valley Casino Resort, Lucky Eagle Casino, Fairhaven Pub & Martini Bar, Liberty Theater, New Everett Theater, Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, Washington Athletic Club, Whitman College and Vashon Theater, and to this year's new venues Admiral (Cinema) Theater, Laughs Comedy Spot, Paradise Village, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Chop Suey, and Gordon's on the Green.
And of course to the comedians who participated and gave their all to entertain, and to the former champs who lent their expertise to hosting the show.
Thanks also to the press for their coverage of the 28th Annual Seattle International Stand Up Comedy Competiton (see "Press" link to the left - we hope to have the Horizon Air Magazine article posted soon as well; we had to manually scan it).
Look for "Best of the Comedy Competition" shows at our partner venues on New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day, plus a couple of shows in March and September.
We have a Winner!
(L-R Key Lewis, Geoff Lott, guest host 2001 winner Dwight Slade, Marcus, Leif Skyving, Tony Boswell)
Photo by Peter Greyy
Salt Lake City resident Marcus (or The Artist Formerly Known as "Marcus the Man of 1000 Voices") has won the 28th Annual Seattle International Stand Up Comedy Competition. A perpetual motion machine of a performer, the former rock musician integrated vocal impressions, singing and dance into his shows, which pleased both audiences and judges night after night.
Sunday night at Seattle's Comedy Underground, Following the very last of the 23 shows that make up the Competition, Marcus was awarded the crown. He wins $5000 cash, and a headline appearance at The Comedy Underground in Seattle December 6-8 2007. Shows are at 8:30 nightly, with late shows Friday and Saturday at 10:30 PM. Thursday tickets are $6; Friday $12, and Saturday $15, and are available at www.ticketweb.com. Information on all Comedy Underground Shows can be found at www.comedyunderground.com, or by calling (206)628-0303.
As usual, the contest was a close affair, with less than half a point separating Marcus from 2nd place finisher Tony Boswell of Chicago, who took home $2000.
First place for the evening went to Sweden native Leif Skyving, currently residing in Boise, but it was only enough to pull him up into 3rd for the contest ($1500).
Fourth place and $1300 went to Key Lewis, a recent emigre to the Northwest from Sacramento, and Kirkland resident Geoff Lott took 5th and a check for $1200.
Over 6000 audience members were entertained in this year's competition, which began October 31 and toured the state, presenting shows at 19 different venues.
Detailed information on the Seattle Comedy Competition, including a daily blog, pictures and bios of the performers, can be found at http://www.seattlecomedycompetition.com.
Photographer Peter Greyy's collection of Seattle Comedy Competition photos is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlecomedynet/collections
Multiple "attaboys" go to this year's competiton staff: Rosalie Gale, Wally Glenn, Peter Greyy, & Pavel Simsa.
And we salute our venue partners Laughs Comedy Spot, Gordon's On the Green, The Edmonds Center for The Arts, The Columbia Theater for the Performing Arts, Fairhaven Pub & Martini Bar, The Comedy Underground, Chop Suey, Paradise Village Bowl and Lounge, West Seattle's Admiral Theater, The New Everett Theatre, Whitman College, The Liberty Theatre, The Skagit Valley Casino Resort, The Lucky Eagle Casino, the Wshington Athletic Club, the Vashon Theatre, the Kirkland Performance Center, and the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton.
Pipe the Admiral aboard. . .
OK, I wrote this up and then accidentally deleted the file. . .so this is the condensed version: Admiral Theatre, Bremerton, sold out, 800-ish people. 2001 winner Dwight Slade hosted, took him about 90 seconds to warm up the crowd. Like a giant comedy club with great acoustics. Even some drunk people.
Everybody killed. Quote of the night, "You want your picture taken with the mermaids?"
Here's how the judges saw it:
1. Marcus 2. Geoff Lott 3. Leif Skyving 4. Key Lewis 5. Tony Boswell
Marcus/Marquee. Photo by Peter Greyy
Show # 21 - Kirkland Performance Center
The Seattle Comedy Competition has been coming to the Kirkland Performance Center since the first year it was open. It's always a favorite venue of the Competition performers and producers; the configuration is perfect for stand-up comedy and the audiences are fantastic. The place holds 400 people. There are comedy clubs around the country bigger. But I doubt they have the amenities - follow spot, dressing rooms, close-circuit viewing of the show backstage, and like that.
From the second host Dwight Slade (winner, 2001) opened his mouth to the moment he said goodnight, the crowd was literally roaring with laughter. Of course, the comics can take some credit for that too. Once again, the judges were mixed in their opinions, but when the totals were added here's how they saw it:
1. Marcus 2. Leif Skyving 3. Tony Boswell 4. Geoff Lott 5. Key Lewis
Speaking of judges, it was nice to have the very first Seattle Comedy Competition winner David Silverman (1980!) among the distinguished panel.
(L-R Key Lewis, Geoff Lott, Dwight Slade, Tony Boswell, Marcus, Leif Skyving, some fingers, and the KPC crowd)
Photo by Peter Greyy. For the complete collection of 2007 Seattle Comedy Competition photos Go Here:
Finals Night 2 - Celebrities on the Island
I love Vashon Island. So close and yet so far. This was our third year at the
Vashon Theatre, and the second Thanksgiving Eve show - and it was a joyous
experience. The Vashon Theatre is a '40's vintage movie theater that is being
lovingly restored (and beyond) by owners Eileen and Gordon Wolcott. It is
gorgeous, and its beauty was enhanced last night by flowers on the stage and
live pre-show piano music by Dan Brown (I don't think he's the Da Vinci Code guy,
but around here you never know).
They do a fair business at the bar on
comedy night - in '06 we actually had to kick out a drunk guy - probably the
only time ever in the history of the theater. Fortunately, history did not repeat itself.
For the 2nd night in a row, we were honored to have this year's San Francisco
Comedy Competition winner Paul Ogata hosting the show. Paul has a great
casual manner combined with broad appeal, which means it doesn't take him
'bout a minute to warm up the crowd. It's been a pleasure working with him.
It was our night for celebrity judges, too. Helping us out in that department
were part-time Vashon Islanders Alex Borstein - she's the voice of Lois on "Family Guy,"
and MAD-TV's "Ms. Swan" - and hubby Jackson Douglas ("Jackson" on "The Gilmore Girls").
The packed house seemed to have a great time, giving all 5 finalists their full attention. And how did the judges see it? Like this:
(L-R): Tony Boswell (2nd Place), Leif Skyving (3rd Place), Key Lewis (4th Place), Paul Ogata (Host), Marcus (1st Place), Geoff Lott (5th Place).
Photo by Peter Greyy. For all Peter's Comedy Competition pix on Flickr, click here:
seattlecomedy.net photo collection
Finals - Opening Night
There was no limo.
Other than that, our opening night could have not been more deluxe - a members-only event at the swanky Washington Athletic Club, followed by cocktails and canapés at the "W." Although we've done shows at the WAC before, this was the first time for the Finals, and Mouni Amrous and her staff went to great lengths to make sure it was a complete package for everyone concerned, audience, entertainers and staff. From the custom-designed backdrop to the Archie McPhee novelties on the tables, it was certainly one of the most luxurious evenings of stand-up the Competition has seen.
All this care and attention to detail, combined with the very best talent this year's Competition had to offer, reflected in the show; host Paul Ogata, fresh off his win in the San Francisco Comedy Competition, got the crowd laughing with his opening words and the show took off from there. Everybody killed. Total point spread from 5th to 1st - 9/10ths of a point!
1. Key Lewis 2. Marcus 3. (tie) Tony Boswell & Geoff Lott 5. Leif Skyving
PS Special thanks to Killorn O'Neill for the little after party. . .
Tonight's winner Key Lewis. Artsy monochrome photo by Peter Greyy
And Here are Your Finalists. . .
This is the way to finish - another sold -out show. 800 people at the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, WA. Where's Rochester? 12 miles south of Olympia, 10 miles west of Centralia, and 40 miles east of Aberdeen. Does that help?
It was our 11th consecutive year at the Lucky Eagle; we figured that out because the first time we did it, host John McClellan, the 1996 winner, was in the contest.
This is the first time, however, that we
A. Did the show on a Saturday; and
B. Ended the semi-final round there
Both smart moves on our part. What a way to close out the semis!
Allyson Smith, up 2nd, tore the roof off the joint. Would it be enough to push her up into the top 5? Kyle Harbert, who has been commuting from Portland daily and suffering from a pretty bad cold, was up 10th and ditto; this was, as Paul Simon once wrote, his "shot at redemption."
Tony Boswell did all new material. Killed.
The audience loved everyone. If you are a performer and have never heard 800 people roaring with laughter and applause, we highly recommend the experience.
Here's how the judges saw it for the night:
1. Allyson Smith 2. (tie) Kyle Harbert & Tony Boswell 3. Leif Skyving 4. Key Lewis 5. Marcus
Missing from the list were some comics who were placing all week. . .would we have a repeat of the "perfect storm" that vaulted Andy Haynes from 12th to the semis in his opening round?
But it was not to be.
Here are the results of the semi-final round:
In 10th place, winning $500: Andy Haynes
9th Kyle Harbert $600
8th Allyson Smith $700
7th Ruben Barron $800
6th Andy Peters $900
And moving on to the finals (in alphabetical order since the scores go back to zero) and still in the running for the $5000 first prize:
Tony Boswell, Key Lewis, Geoff Lott, Marcus, Leif Skyving!
First open-to-the-public show is Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving at the Vashon Theater on Vashon Island; then Friday at the Kirkland Performance Center; Saturday at the Admiral in Bremerton, and closes out Sunday November 25 at the Comedy Underground in Seattle.
Some tickets are available for all shows.
(L-R Key Lewis, Marcus, Leif Skyving, John McClellan, Tony Boswell, Geoff Lott