by Look, I’m as confused as anyone else watching this summer’s comedy competition on NBC called Bring The Funny.
Here’s what I know: Each of the first four Tuesday nights, they presented 10 comedy acts of varying types (stand-up, sketch, characters, musical) and cut them to six for the next round. That should be happening next week. A few acts got introduced with special pre-taped intros, but most didn’t. We see the judges (Kenan Thompson, Chrissy Teigen and Jeff Foxworthy) chit the chat with each other, and make faces. But otherwise, I have no idea how any of these comedians wound up on the show or why, or why they’re competing against each other when they’re only given two minutes of stage time (if they get that much on air after editing). Or what it all means. I wish I could tell you. It certainly seems to short-change the sketch groups the most because how in the world are you supposed to get any sense of them from two minutes? Anyhow. I guess the show is doing the best it can with what it received from NBC in terms of scheduling and budgeting. And yet, the show has never really explained to the audience why it exists. Maybe next week it will?
In the meantime, here were the six acts from week four of four moving on to do battle with the other 18 acts in next week’s episode (yes, that makes it seem like we’ll have 24 acts in an hour, after rushing through 10 in each of the proceeding hours). I’m still confused.
Tacarra Williams
A single mom of three, Williams is from the Bronx, and living in Los Angeles. Tacarra has a half-hour comedy special on Comedy Central produced by Kevin Hart and is the only female to compete in the finals of the Shaq Comedy All Star Competition.
The Valleyfolk (Lee Newton, Elliott Morgan, Joe Bereta, Steve Zaragoza)
Elliott, Lee, Joe and Steve formed The Valleyfolk just last year and within that time their sketches have garnered over 6.5 million views online.
Rocky Dale Davis
Born and raised in Brentwood, Alabama. His first comedy special debuted this past October on EPIX as part of the new stand-up series Unprotected Sets produced by Wanda Sykes.
Lewberger (Alex Lewis, Keith Habersberger, Hughie Stone Fish)
Alex and Keith met at a networking event four years ago and after combining both of their last names the duo Lewberger was born. Not long after, Hughie joined the group making them a three-man musical comedy group. They’re big already on YouTube.
Erica Rhodes
Over the years, Erica has appeared on ABC’s Modern Family, Fox’s New Girl, IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang and Comedy Central’s @ Midnight and Why? With Hannibal Buress. She’s originally from Massachusetts and based in L.A.
The Chris & Paul Show (Chris O’Neill, Paul Valenti)
Harking back to classic Hollywood these “modern vaudevillians” take silent film style sketches and bring them into the 21st century. Over the last 20 years, Chris and Paul have been steadfast in their passion for sketch comedy.
Tune in next week to find out how they sort all of this out!
