So You Want to Win a Comedy Contest? Life lessons from six stand-up champions
So you want to win a comedy contest? Sounds like fun, right? Maybe if you win. But first, you have...
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Tag: Boston Comedy Festival
Blogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (finale postscript)
Here were your final results from the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival contest, decided last weekend… 1. Dwight Slade ($5,000); 2. Andrew Norelli ($2,500); 3. Myq Kaplan ($1,000); 4. Dave Waite ($300); 5. Baron Vaughn ($300);...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (win, place and show!)
Spoiler alert! Oh, wait. It’s an event, results happened, we were there, and if you missed it, you missed it, so there’s nothing to spoil, only news to share in the finals of the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival’s...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (semis 3-4)
Lessons learned from last night at the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival: Sometimes a comic plays very well to the back of the room, but not so much to the judges table in the second row; and sometimes, a show is so stacked with...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (semis 1-2)
There’s an old saying that goes, if you can’t stand the heat, then don’t become a firefighter. Likewise, if you don’t like being judged, then please don’t become a stand-up comedian, because...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (prelims 7-8)
You’ve all been waiting for this (sorry about the wait), it’s the two final preliminary competitions in the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival contest, so let’s get to recapping… Prelim 7 winners: Byron Bowers,...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (prelims 5-6)
Someone asked me if going first in a contest meant certain elimination. That entirely depends upon a few factors, such as: How proficient your host is in warming up the audience and getting them to laugh, what time your show...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (prelims 3-4)
Not all contest preliminary groups in the Boston Comedy Festival are created alike. That's the first thing that has to be said for prelims 3-4 last night. In the late show, you could make a case for at least eight of the 12...
Read MoreBlogging the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival (prelims 1-2)
I’m back in Boston this week for the 2008 Boston Comedy Festival, which began last night and runs through Saturday, culminating in awards honoring The Smothers Brothers for 50 years together in comedy, local Steve Sweeney...
Read MoreBoston Comedy Festival 2008 contest participants
The ninth annual Boston Comedy Festival starts next month, and, as in past years, the centerpiece of the weeklong fest is its stand-up comedy contest. Having served as a judge for part of this contest in 2005 and 2006, and...
Read MoreShane Mauss: From unknown to Conan in six easy weeks?
How did Shane Mauss, a virtually unknown stand-up comedian from Boston in February, find himself telling jokes on Conan O’Brien in March? This photo of him (center) with me and Dan Pasternack of Super Deluxe only tells...
Read MoreSteven Wright’s first special in decades
Steven Wright’s first TV stand-up comedy special in 15 years, "Steven Wright: When the Leaves Blow Away," premieres at 9 p.m. tonight on Comedy Central (repeats at 11 p.m. tonight, 10 p.m. Monday). The hourlong...
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