Another first for the Seattle Comedy Competition - two shows on the same night in the same venue.
The Pacific Showroom at the Skagit Valley Casino Resort has been one of our favorite venues since we began working with them. First class hospitality, sold-out shows. In fact, it is because this show sells out a month in advance annually that we considered adding the second show.
The host for the evening, 1996 Competition winner John McClellan, with shaved head and motorcycle jacket, seems an unlikely match for this older audience. In fact, it takes them a few minutes of staring to get into it. But wonder of wonders, they let go and get into it and we are off and running.
The semi-finals is always what separates, metaphorically of course, the men from the boys. And speaking of metaphors - or cliches - it takes a big umbrella to cover the wide variety of audiences that a entertainer needs to please in in order to really be successful. That's part of what this competition is all about.
So here's who was carrying that umbrella tonight:
First show:
1. Andy Peters 2. Marcus 3. Tony Boswell 4. Key Lewis & Ruben Barron (tie) 5. Leif Skyving
Second show - same comics, different order:
1. Marcus 2. Tony Boswell & Andy Peters (tie) 3. Key Lewis 4. Leif Skyving 5. Ruben Barron
These comedians have made giant steps toward the Finals - but the scores are all very close, no one is out of the running, and the list is likely to look very different after Friday's show at Laughs in the upscale suburb of Kirkland. I guess we'll all find out in a few hours.
(L-R: John McClellan, Ruben Barron, Andy Peters, Key Lewis, Marcus, Leif Skyving, Tony Boswell.)