Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.
Returning to the top spot in tonight's fourth night of six in Preliminary Week One of the 30th Annual Seattle International Comedy Competition is Miami's Jose Sarduy.
Mother Nature turned off her shower massage to give us the chance to make a surprisingly dry trek north to Everett, where a crowd of over 400 packed into one of our favorite venues to bring the competition to, the Historic Everett Theater in Everett, and seemed to know exactly what Jose was talking about tonight...and the judges agreed.
Steve Monroe, Paul Myerhaug, Jane Stanton, Jose Sarduy, Rodger Lizaola, Matt Billon
This marks Jose's second winning night this week and makes him the first person to earn a second nightly win. He currently leads the weekly standings as well and seems poised to continue his competition journey into the semi-finals--but nothing is absolutely carved in stone yet...not with two shows to come.
Joining him in the Top Five tonight, as they have in every show this week, were Matt Billon and Rodger Lizaola. Making his third visit to the top five was Steve Monroe, who was aided by the quite huggable Rose on this night...and making her second top five was Vancouver's Jane Stanton. They join Jose in the weekly standings, at least for now, as well.
There are two shows remaining in this Preliminary Week and despite some wonderful performances throughout the week from everyone, some very talented people now find themselves in scramble mode...as they try to earn the scores that will get them into the Weekly Top Five and move them on to the semi-finals.
The competition heads further north, as it always on Sundays during the Preliminary Weeks, to The Fairhaven Martini Pub in Bellingham...which has a reputation as a dream killer for many a competition hopeful over the years. Who will survive the walk through Spencer King's Graveyard and make it over Geoff Brousseau's Wall?