SF Comedy Competition returns to SSU, leaves students in tears At 6:30 p.m, there was already numerous students lining up at Person Theatre. The doors of the theatre opened at 7:15, and the line was already down the walkway and around the theatre, and by 7:40 p.m., there was not an empty seat in the house. The show had completely sold out. This scene is not too unfamiliar. In fact, this continues to be the scenario year after year when the San Francisco International Comedy Competition makes its stop at Sonoma State University. The show at Person Theatre was the second performance of the 30th annual comedy competition and the 5th year in a row that it has been performed at Sonoma State University. Fifteen comics had five to six minutes each to tell their best jokes, while three judges graded them on seven different categories. One of the categories was audience response. Contestants could also earn an extra point if the audience screamed and cheered after a particular contestant left the stage. In which case, the contestant would be called back onto the stage for a final bow. The audience was very generous in giving this honor. In fact, every single comedian that performed was called back onto the stage and thus received this bonus point. Many students were impressed with the show. “It was hilarious and I am going again next year” said SSU student Trina Svaboda. The winner of the competition, Jen Kober, was the last to perform and left the audience cracking up with her sarcastic sense of humor. “The last girl, Jen was extremely hilarious. I saw her last year, and I am so glad that she won this year.” said Sonoma State Student, Siobhan Byrne. The host of this year’s competition and last year’s winner, Jim Short, was the highlight of the evening. His jokes on pop-culture icons like Paris Hilton and the Crocodile Hunter were especially popular with the audience. “The host was hilarious, he kept the mood going,” said Shiobhan Bryne. Jim Short, who has appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, as well as on Comedy Central many times, had nothing but kind and appreciative words for the audience. “The show was tremendous. The audience was great and so excited. All the contestants really responded to the energy of the audience and that made it a great show,” said Bryne. However, while some people thought the whole show was hilarious, others were offended and annoyed at some of the controversial jokes. “Overall, it was funny, however I didn’t appreciate some of the joke topics. They just were not funny, they were immature and mean” said audience member, Stephanie Guthrie. “For example, the comedian that won second place….his routine sounded like something my little brother would have written in sixth grade. If you have to resort to that kind of humor, you are just not funny in the first place. I am in shock that he came in second.” Others were annoyed at the repetitive jokes. “I definitely wasn’t offended, but I didn’t like the comedian whose entire act was about sex. Sex is funny, but not for 5 minutes straight,” said SSU student, Bonnie O’Hare. In response Jim Short comments, “That is the nature of comedy. Not everyone is going to agree with a comedian. The comedians get to do what they want to do, I’m just the host.” The Comedy Competition contestants have a busy month ahead as they travel around performing. There are two preliminary rounds, where 15 contestants get to perform for five-six minutes. Then there are the semi-finals where 10 comedians perform. Lastly, there are the finals where the top five comedians do 15-20 minute sets. The final show is on October 16th at Cache Creek. For a complete schedule of all the shows, go to www.SanfranciscoComedyCompetition.com.
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