by Earlier this week, the dueling 64-comedian "March Madness" (Comix) and "Final Four" (Carolines) competitions came to an end, with Sam Morril earning the $500 prize and gigs from Comix, while Nate Bargatze won the similar prize at Carolines (plus an extra gig during this fall's New York Comedy Festival). How did your brackets fare? Who are we kidding. You didn't fill out brackets.
Why were there two separate yet seemingly similar comedy competitions happening in the city this year? Probably because the folks at Carolines decided that just because the guys who produced March Madness had bolted to Comix, there was no reason they couldn't produce the event themselves. Further reading if you must.
Meanwhile, Carolines handpicked its field of 64, made up primarily of club comics. Its final four: Bargatze vs. Joe List and Dustin Chafin vs. Ryan Hamilton, came down to decisions by a panel of judges.
Was one way better than the other? I don't know. The hoops equivalent that inspired this, after all, offers both the NCAAs and the NIT, as well as two other newer tourneys called the CBI and something called the CIT. So maybe there's room for both.
