Round 1: Beginnings

Today began the Steam Whistle Presents "Yuk Yuk's Pro Am Comedy Competition" sponsored by Live 88.5 and Steam Whistle.  There will be six rounds, each with professionals and amateurs competing in their respective categories.  How did it go?  Let's find out..............................


The first night had five amateurs and three professionals competing.  The amateurs sat in the green room going over notes, pacing, and looking generally nervous.  Of course they would be, as the top two advance to the semi-finals with a chance to win a coveted weekend spot at Yuk Yuk's Ottawa.   This is what all amateur comedians dream of as their next step to super stardom, or whatever their goals are.  The professionals look calm, cool, and collected!


Three judges are in the house tonight, all representing various marketing and media sources.  They are left with their judging criteria sheets, and the show begins with...............


"A Good Start" Trevor Thompson takes the stage as respected host and MC.  If you don't get the "A Good Start" quote, all I can say is 'should have been there!"  Thompson never fails and tonight is no exception.  He attempts to engage some women in the audience who will not participate and giggle a lot, and then turns to some of his "A" material, to the crowds delight.   He explains the rules and is ready to get the show going by introducing the first amateur of the night...........


Mark Adamson takes the stage.  It is never easy to bite the bullet and be the first person, but he does and comes out with enthusiasm.  He has a bit of a slow start, but wins the audience over with tales of fatherhood and what he will do to future men courting his daughter!  When done, Thompson comes out and brings out................


Mark Nesseth, who has a spot on Christopher Walken impression.  Nesseth goes on to do material that is a general hit with the crowd.   He has a very polished voice, and looks like he is comfortable on stage.  He leaves the audience satisfied and next up is..............


Derek McFarland who brings his funny, with a polished and unique voice. Highlight joke is discussing ear worming Walmart with Mario Brother tunes!  Out next is...........


Francois Tousignant, who brings a heavy French accent and explains he has only been performing in English for a little while.  His English is very broken but  his jokes are not.  He charms the audience with many jokes including the difference between France and Quebec accents, as well as hilarious bit I won't mention as it will spoil the joke, but violence has never been so charming!  Thompson then brings out............


Paddy Mack who  takes on religion with crass and charm, then turning the set on to tried and true material about eleven years of marriage.  This material plays well to all, but his comment "and I mean real marriage not this common law bull S#@t" is a big hit with the couples in the room.


The amateur portion is over and while judges tabulate filler Aaron Power takes the stage and, well he will be recapped when he is on during the competition.  I must say at this point that when the competition is laid out like this, with amateurs then professionals, a shift occurs.  Everyone is enjoying the show with the amateurs.  Some hits, some misses, some really heavy laughter, and everyone is having fun.  Then out comes the professionals, and the difference is palpable.  This does not take away from amateurs, nay in fact, this professional status is what they are all working so hard for!  The shift does occur, and it is like the audience has a really tasty burger and fries for dinner, and SUPRISE; out pops creme brulee for dessert!


The first dessert is Graham Kay, who starts off talking about his hair, and delivers a killer set.  Everyone enjoys it.  Then comes Wafik Nasralla who also delivers zing after zing from topics such as pot to necrophilia   Thirdly comes Greg Schroeder who brings his experience as a father and teacher to the stage in a fabulous performance.  The judges has their work cut out for them!


Let's cut to one caveat here:  No one likes comedy competitions, except those who end up winning.  Like any art form, it is subjective and although their are specific winners, there are no losers.  Let me say that again:  THERE ARE NO LOSERS.  Anyone brave enough to get on stage and have the guts to perform is a winner for trying and giving it their all.  This is what was clear tonight; that each person gave their 110% and to push performers to up their ante and their game is exactly why competitions are good.  Getting people to compete, even with themselves will push them to do the best they can.  If they do the best they can then they are not losers, and no one should walk away feeling bad after a competition.  Bravo to you all!  All that said, the winners are.............


Amateur:  Francois Tousignant and Paddy Mack
Professional:  Graham Kay


These folks will all move on to the next stage in the competition.  What I love about comedy is no matter how you place, you are still out having a drink or singing a karaoke tune together when done.  Comedy is a world made up of people with like minded interests getting together for the love of a craft.  Win or lose, the night was great and the real winners, as always, are the audience members who received an excellent show.


Thank you to Yuk Yuk's as always for hosting and producing great comedy.  I can't wait until next week!  If you go to our facebook page Yuk's passes for future shows!


Pass this review/recap on, and get reservations for next week show, which is already half sold out!  Do not miss out, so call 236-LAFF (5233) to reserve your spot today!


Until next week,


Jenn H.
JH2 of JH5

Steam Whistle Presents the "Yuk Yuk's Pro-Am Comedy Competition"

As mentioned in an earlier blog, Yuk Yuk's Ottawa will be the place to be this summer to watch comedians perform at their best is a summer comedy competition sponsored by Steam Whistle, Live 88.5, and JH5 Promotions. (us)

Media Sponsor of Competition

Full information on entering the competition is below, as well as appropriate contact information.  All comedians welcome to apply, and JH5 encourages ANYONE to come give it a try!  If you think you are funny, sign up and cross it off your bucket list!

_________________________________________

Steam Whistle Presents the "Yuk Yuk's Summer Pro-Am Comedy Competition"

Each Wednesday in July and August at Yuk Yuk's Elgin Street location, the best of Ottawa's local comedy scene will compete for bragging rights and great prizes. There will be both a professional and an amateur winner.

Judging will be by an esteemed "Whistle" panel of judges from our sponsors and community media partners.  

Preliminary rounds begin July 6th.  There will be 6 preliminary rounds each consisting of amateur spots and pro spots per evening. There will be a nightly amateur winner and a nightly pro winner.  Semi final rounds will be held on Wednesday August 17th and Wednesday August 24th.  Semi final winners will compete head to head for the finals on August 24th.  

Starting June 8th, comics can apply online at contest@jh-5.com or by following the contest link from http://www.jh-5.proboards.com/. All interested parties will then have until June 21 to email their intent to enter the competition.  Please clearly indicate your interest to participate in the contest and whether you are amateur or professional.  Professionals are defined as anyone who has ever been paid to do comedy on a Yuk Yuk’s stage.  Include your name, phone number, website and twitter handle if you have one.

All registrations received by June 21 will be entered into a lottery draw:  one for professionals and one for amateurs.  The draw will take place LIVE at Yuk Yuk’s, 292 Elgin Street on Wednesday June 22nd at 8:00PM!   Lineups will be posted to the proboards on June 23rd.  

All comics, amateur and professional are eligible to enter. No experience required.  

Tickets are the usual price of $6 per person.  

Tickets will be $12 each for the finals.

Contestants are required to arrive one half hour before show time to draw the running order out of a hat.  Anyone not there for the draw automatically gets the first spot(s) and they start drawing with the next spot after the late comers positions.  i.e. if 2 people are late for the draw then the comics present start drawing from position three onward.  
In the case of a tie both contestants move on to the next round.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact:

Jennifer or Joshua Hayward
jenn@jh-5.com
(613) 600-7462

CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. TO ENTER Steam Whistle Presents the "Yuk Yuk's Summer Pro-Am Comedy Competition" (the "Contest") simply email your interest to contest@jh-5.com, or follow the contest link from http://www.jh-5.proboards.com/. All entries must include your name, ten digit day and evening telephone numbers and a verifiable e-mail address, and professional or amateur status. Please include your twitter handle if you have one.  Contest starts at 12:00:01 pm Eastern Time ("ET") on June 8th_ entries must be received by 12:00:00 a.m. Eaten Time ("PT") on June 21, 2011 (the "Contest Period"). There is (1) grand prize.

2. Performances must be conducted in the English language and consist of stand-up comedy. Prize sponsors, promotional and advertising agencies and administrators, are ineligible to enter. All Judges will be independent.

3. All comics, amateur and professional are eligible to enter. No experience required.  Professionals are defined as anyone who has ever been paid to do comedy on a Yuk Yuk’s stage.  

4. All registrations received by June 21 will be entered into a lottery draw:  one for professionals and one for amateurs.  The draw will take place LIVE at Yuk Yuk’s, 292 Elgin Street on Wednesday June 22nd at 8:00PM!   Lineups will be posted to http://www.jh-5.proboards.com on June 23rd.  

5. Contestants are required to arrive one half hour before show time to draw the night’s running order out of a hat.  Anyone not there for the draw automatically gets the first spot(s) and drawing will start with the second spot. If 2 people are late for the draw then the comics present start drawing from position three onward.   
6. By entering this Contest the entrants and participants automatically agree to accept and abide by these Rules. All decisions of the Contest Producer(s) with respect to any aspect of this Contest, including without limitation the eligibility of entries, are final and binding on all entrants in all matters as they relate to this Contest.

7. Contest is subject to all applicable Canadian federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulations. By entering this Contest, each entrant consents to the collection, use and distribution of his/her personal information (information that identifies as an individual, such as home telephone number, age and home address) by the Producer(s) for the purposes of implementing, broadcasting, administering and fulfilling this contest. Any inquiry concerning the personal information held by the Producer(s) should be addressed to Yuk Yuk's Ottawa, PO Box 20464, 390 Rideau Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 1P3.

Comedy Competition

The end of this blog has a big announcement regarding a comedy competition in Ottawa this summer.  STOP!  Don’t you dare skip the rest of the blog to look!  What if we put some hidden gems and hints in the middle? We won’t but here’s our blog entry on the power of competition!

Competition exists in our daily lives in various formats.  We compete for our jobs, we compete in sports (not me but I have heard others enjoy this), and we compete to get a seat on the bus (watch out pregnant women and old ladies!!)  We live in a world of Darwinism, survival of the fittest, and so far, if you are reading this, you are doing quite well in the competition in life!  (if you disagree with this statement and you are not a starving child in Africa, get some perspective; you are doing just fine in the grand scheme of things).  

Many hippies and beatniks like my in-laws will state that it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, just as long as we all have fun.  Maybe this is true, but if you ever sit and watch these type of people, they themselves are having a competition on who can be the most “organic”, the most “at peace”, or having the most “fun”.  Of course fun is important, and of course it doesn’t matter who actually wins or loses, unless of course you are the winner or loser.  Those who are at the top like being at the top, they get rewards for being at the top.  Those who are at the very bottom are likely not having that much fun.  No one likes to suck so bad at something that everyone else around you feels sorry that you are even participating.  The exception is cutie pies like my daughter who sit on the ground and play with flowers while in the position of goalie during soccer.   Top or bottom matters, but those in the middle, they may be any portion of happy to have made their personal best, annoyed they aren’t doing as well as they could, or in fact they may be happy just to be playing.

Talent competitions are all the rage right now.  Pretty much every art form has the word “Idol” after it, in which participants sell out their talent to get ahead in fame and fortune.  Critics of art based competitions say that art is objective therefore there can be no winners and losers.  They say there is no basis to compare two artists, as they do such significantly different things.  How can one compare Josh Grobin to the Axl Rose, Picasso to my children’s paintings, or a prop comic to Doug Stanhope?

Critics may be correct in some elements, and not everyone is happy with the outcome of competitions.  In the end though, competitions bring attention and awareness to the art form, provides a platform for artists to display their talent, and gives everyone the motivation to up their game, even just a little bit.  Competition also provides a forum for promoters like JH5 to partner with the best in the business, and bring the public quality, high energy shows!

Last September we at JH5 knew we wanted to do a comedy competition.  We were planning many events at the time and put it off for the time until the timing was right.  When we became ready to move into action, we approached the only business in the city that we felt could bring this vision to life in a way that promotes quality and means something.  Bragging rights of “best comic of some bar” would not cut it for us.  We wanted a business that’s names stands on it’s own for quality comedy entertainment.  We wanted to work with a business that is well known in the community for their charitable giving, excellent fundraising programs, and who have staff that have 100% passion for comedy.  We of course chose Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Cabaret in Ottawa!

Together JH5 and Yuk Yuk’s have created a summer comedy competition.  Apologizes for the alliteration, but it will be a sizzling summer for comics in Ottawa!  Yuk Yuk’s worked on creating further partners for the competition, with media partner Live 88.5 - Ottawa’s Alternative Rock, and Steam Whistle Brewing providing the prizes for the winners!  Four businesses coming together to help celebrate the amazing comedic talent in Ottawa; this is something you don’t want to miss!  The official name for the competition is:  Steam Whistle presents the Yuk Yuk's Summer Pro-Am Comedy Competition.

The competition will begin Wednesday July 6th, running each Wednesday until August 31, and in order to bring fair and equitable balance, there will be two different levels of competition.  One will be professional comics:  defined as anyone who has been PAID to perform comedy at Yuk Yuk’s on a weekend.  This includes all headliners, middle, MC and spots.  You are paid ergo you are professional.  For those not yet Yuk Yuk’s approved for weekend performances, this is your time to shine!  
The second level is amateur level aka everyone else including those currently working to get ahead in comedy, and those who have never been on stage before.  If you think you might be funny, this may be the time to give it a try!  There have been many cases in the history of comedy competitions where someone tries comedy for the first time during a competition and wins or comes close!  Why not give it a try?  Winners will receive bragging rights and a prize.

If you don’t think you are ready or have no interest in performing, then spending the summer supporting local talent in Ottawa in an air conditioned venue is also appealing!  Every time you attend a Wednesday evening at Yuk Yuk’s this summer watching the comedy competition and come back to JH5 on facebook or twitter to tell us what you thought of the show, you are entered in a draw for Yuk Yuk tickets, promotional merchandise, event tickets, and more!  (a future blog will spell out the specifics!)

Okay, if you are a comic or a comic wannabe, you are now staring at the computer saying “GET TO THE POINT LADY, HOW DO WE ENTER????”.  Okay, okay, stop shouting, here you go:

How to enter:

1. Go to http://www.jh-5.proboards.com/ and register.  The proboards will be where lineups are announced, information is shared, and a place for all things Ottawa comedy.
2. The official rules and regulations will be announced on the proboards on June 8th.  An email address will be provided, and you will email your interest in competing.  The email will not be announced before this time, so no early bird entries!  You will be able to state ONE preliminary round that you are not free.  Let’s face it, summer is busy, so if you have one week of vacation planned, you may still enter the competition.  If you are busy during the last three weeks in August for the semi-finals and finals, then you may want to reconsider.  If you plan on winning, then plan on being here in August!
3. All interested parties will then have until June 21 to email their intent to enter the competition.
4. All registrations are then put into a lottery draw:  one for professionals and one for amateur.  No preference will be given to any comic.
5. The draw will take place LIVE at Yuk Yuk’s, 292 Elgin Street on Wednesday June 22nd at 8:00PM!   Lineups will be posted to the proboards on June 23rd.  
6. Judging will be done by the media partner and other highly regarded Ottawa personalities.  JH5 and Yuk Yuk’s will not participate in any judging.  To answer your next question:  No one from JH5 will be entering this competition, that would hardly be appropriate!
7. For more information please contact Jennifer Hayward 613-600-7462 or jenn@jh-5.com

This is really a Yuk Yuk's competition, and we at JH5 will assist through manage the administration of the entries, and keeping comics informed via the proboards all they will need to know, while Yuk Yuk’s will do what it does best, and that is host and produce the quality show each and every week! 

I have to say that we at JH5 could not be happier with this partnership.  Yuk Yuk’s has continually brought the highest quality comedy to Ottawa  for over 25 years, and it is an honour to partner with them.  Check back to our blog regularly for tips, promotions and information about this competition.  The blog is for the general public, while the probards are for comics only!

This summer the ONLY place to be on Wednesday evenings is Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Cabaret!  I know we will see you there!
Josh and Jenn Hayward
JH5