How to Advance and Win at a Comedy Competition

DVDs
Chondra Pierce - A
Piece of My Mind

Live Comedy from the
Laff House: Make
Room for Comedy

Redneck Comedy
Roundup 2 - Bill
Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy
and Ron Shock.

Southern Gents of
Comedy - Ron White,
Vic Henley, Steve
McGrew and Otis Lee
Crenshaw

Laffapalooza #6 -
Jamie Foxx, JB
Smoove, Gerald Kelly
and Wil Sylvince

Laffapalooza #7 - Rob
Stapleton, Loni Love,
Jo Koy and James
Hannah

Laffapalooza #8 -
Rodney Perry, Tony
Roberts, Earthquake

Paul Mooney -
Analyzing White
America

Russell Peters - Two
Concerts...On Ticket

Dave Attell - Insomiac
Tour Uncensored -
Dave Attell, Dane
Cook, Greg Giraldo and
Sean Rouse

Mike Epps -
Inappropriate Behavior

Jeff Cesario - You Can
Get a Hooker
Tomorrow Night

Kims of Comedy -
Steve Byrne, Bobby
Lee, Kevin Shea and
Dr. Ken

Alonzo Bodden - Tall,
Dark & Funny

Jim Gaffigan - Beyond
the Pale

CDs
Don Rickles - Speaks

Jackie Mason - The
World According to Me

Jake Johannsen - Jake
This Dot Com

Brad Montague -
Double Live

Eric Schwartz - Wimp
Pimp

Kathleen Madigan - In
Other Words

Drew Hastings - I'm
Just Like You

Jesse Joyce - Joyce to
the World

Marc Maron - Not Sold
Out

Mike Birbiglia - Two
Drink Mike

Tom Rhodes - Hot
Sweet Ass

Jimmy Shubert -
Pandemonium

Ron White - You Can't
Fix Stupid

Books
Oliver Double - Getting
the Joke: The Inner
Workings of Stand-Up
Comedy

Ed Driscoll - Spilled
Gravy: Advice on Love,
Life, and Acceptance
from a Man Uniquely
Unqualified to Give It

Brad Stine - Live From
Middle America: Rants
from a Red-State
Comedian

Sandi C. Shore - Sandi
Shore's Secrets to
Stand-Up Success: A
Complete Step-by-Step
Workbook

Judy Brown - The
Comedy Thesaurus

Movies
March 24
Health Inspector -
Larry the Cable Guy
and Bruce Bruce star in
the comedy with
support from Lisa
Lampanelli.

April 7
The Benchwarmers -
David Spade stars with
screenwriter/comedian,
Nick Swardson, Craig
Kilborn, Norm
MacDonald and Adam
Sandler in a comedy
about a three-player
baseball team that
challenges Little
League teams.

Phat Girlz - Mo'Nique
and Godfrey star in the
comedy about love and
acceptance.

April 14
Scary Movie 4 - DeRay
Davis co-stars in the
spoof comedy with
Anna Farris and Regina
Hall.

The Wild - Eddie Izzard
lends his voice in the
animated feature.

May 19
Over the Hedge - Garry
Shandling, Wanda
Sykes and Omid Djalili
lend their voices in the
animated movie
starring Bruce Willis,
who replaces Jim
Carrey as the lead
character.

May 26
Little Men - Keenan
Ivory Wayans directs
his younger brothers,
Shawn and Marlon
Wayans in a comedy
that co-stars Tracy
Morgan, Gary Owen
and John Witherspoon.

June 16
Wordplay - Jon Stewart
shares his passion for
crossword puzzles in
this documentary
featuring Bill Clinton,
Bob Dole and Ken
Burns.

June 23
Click - Adam Sandler
stars in the comedy
about a man who finds
a universal remote.

What was your experience competing in
the "Emerging Comics Contest?"

I live in Indianapolis and another local
comic mentioned he had a submission to
the "Emerging Comics" competition. So I
sent a videotape too. A few months passed
and I sort of forgot I entered. So I was
surprised when Jim Mendrinos called to
invite me.

The one thing that really impressed me
about the competition was the quality of
the comics selected. George Sarris did an
outstanding job going through all the
submissions and picking out very talented
people from across the nation. Watching
the others, I was blown away by their
performances. I remember waiting to go on-
stage thinking, “Oh man, I just don’t want
to embarrass myself”.

The rest of the festival was a lot of fun. This was my first time performing in New York
City. I was able to perform for a few other shows for XM Radio and AOL. The crowds
were amazing and very receptive. was also able to see a lot of shows around town and
all the New York comics I met were great.

How was this competition different from the previous ones in which you participated
such as the Funny Bone Amateur, Seattle International Comedy Competition and
Boston International Comedy and Movie Festival?

The one noticeable difference is that the NYUCF contest was much shorter compared to
the others. The Funnybone was every month for a year, the Seattle International [was]
a month and Boston was a week. Just doing one show was good and bad. There wasn’t
a lot of time to get nervous and when it was over, I could kind of relax and enjoy the
rest of the festival. But on the downside, there wasn’t much time to meet and get to
know the other comics. Just time to exchange pleasantries and then we went our
separate ways.

What advice do you have for comics who
would like to participate in a comedy
competition?

My advice to comics is to do your best
and have a good time. I’ve been in
contests where I have won and others I
have not done very well. The only thing
you can control is your own performance.
The rest is pretty much out of your hands,
so try not to stress about it. My fondest
memories of competitions are hanging
out with the other comics.

It’s great to see very talented people perform. I find it inspirational and it motivates
me to work harder. The Boston Comedy Festival had 96 comics from across the nation.
So although I only made it to the semi-finals, I met a lot of great people and have
some great memories of the week.

What are you thoughts on judging comedy? What's been your observations on judging
who's the funniest?

Comedy is extremely subjective. Everyone has different sensibilities. I think what
makes me laugh, as a comic is usually much darker than what makes an audience
laugh. I hope that when someone judges a comedy competition, they look for an
original voice and not an act that is gimmicky or hacky that might have crowd appeal
but no substance.

What prizes did you win? How has winning the competition helped your career?

I received a $1000. There were also some gigs at some New York area clubs. But
unfortunately due to my schedule, I wasn’t able to do them. Wining the competition
has given me more confidence that I am progressing in the right direction. I’m still
trying to improve as a comic. Hopefully if I keep at it, more good things will come my
way!

Stan Chen is a stand-up comedian from Seattle, WA, who performed at the Punchline (San
Francisco), The Improv (Hollywood)The Laugh Factory (Los Angeles and New York) and
New York Comedy Club. He has worked with comedians such as Dave Attell, Kathleen
Madigan, Mike Birbiglia, Marc Maron and Daniel Tosh. Visit Stan at www.stanchen.net or
myspace.com. The New York Comedy Underground Festival will be held Sept. 8-16, 2006
and is accepting submissions. For information, visit www.nycundergroundcomedy.com.

What did it mean to you to
perform and receive an
award in Bill Hicks honor?

I was thrilled when Jim
Mendrinos from the NYUCF
told I had been nominated
for the award. However, I
never expected to be
chosen. Truthfully, when I
was told a week before the
event that I had been
chosen for the award. I kept
expecting them to call back
and say, "Sorry, we are
giving it to someone else."

It wasn't until the night of the event when I saw my name on the plaque that I believed
I was getting it.

The best way to explain how much the award means to me is to tell you how much I
admire Bill Hicks and comics like him. Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Marc Maron,
Jon Stewart and Colin Quinn, all combined making people with laugh while challenging
them to think.

While I appreciate all different types of comedy, I have always admired the comics who
passionately take on big issues and aren't afraid to take a position, even it's
unpopular. Bill is the poster child for that type of material. He did jokes in 1991
opposing the first Persian Gulf War while almost everyone else in the US favored it. His
material about President George H. Bush (father of George W. Bush) and Saddam
Hussein is still great. [Hick's material] is so good that some comics have stolen it and
are using them today.

I opened by telling the audience I never felt more pressure doing a set in my life. I
wasn't nervous about getting laughs as much as that the audience would expect to see
he next Bill Hicks.

I am not so delusional or egotistical to think I'm the next Bill Hicks. I'm simply a comic
who talks about things that are important to me and I hope for the best.
Some nights it works out well, some nights I eat my balls.

How has winning The Bill Hicks Spirit Award helped your career?

The biggest thing that has happened since I received the award is that it has inspired
me to write even more political and socially relevant material. That is not always what
the audience wants to hear though. There are nights they just want to hear dick and
fart jokes. However, to me, going on stage is a privilege, and I don't want to waste the
audience's time or mine with jokes about meaningless shit. I'd rather sit home and
stare at a wall.

If Bill were alive, there is no doubt he would be
the standard that all comics who do political
and socially relevant material.

How did you prepare for the event?

It was surreal doing the set. Let me put it in
perspective: The audience had just watched
numerous video clips of Bill Hicks at his best.
Then they introduced me to perform as the
recipient of the first ever "Bill Hicks Spirit"
award.

It was like showing clips of Michael Jordan in
his prime and then introducing a high school
basketball player who was just given the first
ever Michael Jordan award and asking him to
then take some shots.