There was nothing but great comedy mixed with a little melodrama to make the first semi-final round exciting! Before I let you know the deets, here is a reminder of how the scoring works. There are judges, and each of these judges score the comics on four elements. Then all four scores make a total score out of 100. All four judges total scores are tabulated and averaged out, making one final score. The judges do not talk to each other about what score to give, it is 100% their opinion on how the comic did in each of the areas. If one comic is deemed to be original they may get a higher score in that area, but maybe the audience response was lower. And so on and so forth. Now you are up to date on the hard work the judges must perform, let's get to the show!
The show began with the timid and quiet Alex Wood as MC. Kidding about the timid and quiet, Wood jumped on the stage and woke the crowd up with his electric energy and voice. Although he looked like he just rolled out of bed and put on the first undershirt he could find, he is always one of the best comics around. Put a clean shirt on him, and this kid is going to go far! Wood warms the crowd up, and introduces the first comic of the night................
Nick Flores, who lacks the energy of Wood (everyone does) but gives a great performance. He starts off by discussing his first winter in Canada, and moves on to discussing having a Nazi as a lab partner. Flores has a gentle style and is charming to watch. The audience listens, laughs and cheers wildly when he is done. Well done Flores! Out next comes....................
Kris Kingsbury, a Calgary native. Kingsbury has a relaxed style, hand in his pocked, and starts by discussing DQ Strawberry Milkshakes. He then mimed out trying to suck out the little strawberry bits, obviously trying to make it look like fellatio. Half the crowd loves it, but alas, he has his back to the other half so they don't get to see his expert skills. He moves on to discussing MSN Chat, 3D TV for porn and the KKK. He does great, but goes over his time significantly, a no no in comedy. Likely because he was excited and nervous, but regardless, and crowd loves him and then it's time for..............
Paddy Mack! He starts by saying "any hockey fans" here? (we are in Canada Paddy, way to take a risk). :) He then moves on to some risky material about heaven and the dude who gives up pubic hair for lent. The crowd likes it and the risk pays off. He moves to some other material about dogs and his sympathy for toilet seats. Great job Mack, a local rising star! Next out comes..........
Skip Phillips, who gives one of his greatest performances. Very solid delivery and great stage presence. He does choose to do jokes about Vanier, a fairly generic topic, but gives a unique spin with pimped out bikes. One notable line is "etch a sketch for a GPS". He then discusses doughnut breath, intervention, and his riskiest material, Cleveland Steamers. Everyone enjoys the performance, but dark materials is always a risk with judges. Good for Skip for taking the risk, because people enjoy him very much! Then comes................
The charming Matt Watson. He charms while discussing his sister's sex texts, Lucy the worst customer ever, and how he hates his job as a waiter. Perhaps the audience is made up of people who have been servers in past lives because they all get his jokes and hoot and holler as if they have been there! He discusses a zen garden and gets huge chuckles and then goes into a rant on how much harder it is to ask women out. This rant seals him a place as the front runner because he at this time seems unbeatable! The last amateur is................
Chris "Guy" Timms. He has interesting family dynamics which make for good comedy. His sister is the best hide and seek player around. He discusses the war amps and his dad, how drinking is fun, and boldly states "I am a lot like Jesus", possibly the most interesting line of the evening. Not a religious crowd so whew, thought we might have another John Lennon situation here! He ends on his continually improving bit on hockey and ends strong. The crowd digs him!
Wood comes out and does some more killer jokes, and keeps the energy strong. The professionals are next, of which their are three: Matt Carter, Trevor Thompson, and Geoff Mackay. While watching all three, I assess them in my head. By assess I totally mean judge them. One by far is the most charming, one by far has the most original material, and one has the best dlievery. I won't say which is which, but I am saying the judges have their work cut out for them.
Carter has a good voice for comedy, and the highlights are his jokes on Afghanistan. Thompson hits the stage with local life about buses, student rivalries and hippies with better business sense than him. MacKay riffs on burnt toast, Australia, Baby on Board signs, and our current justice system. They all do good, and before I give the results I will say that it was CLOSE. So close we ended up with a tie! Drama, a tie, oh what to do........
Peter Gunstra hits the stage while two people tabulate the judges scores. Two people folks, two people. Then the results are in and.......................
Amateur: Flores, Timms, and Watson move on!
Professional: The tie brings Carter and Thompson to the stage!
Friends, you do not want to miss the finals! Tonight was one of the best nights of comedy on a Wednesday, and the finals will be THAT MUCH BETTER! Space will go soon, so reserve your spot now to cheer for your favourites! 236-LAFF. Tell them JH5 sent ya!
Until next week........
Jenn H.
JH5
No comments:
Post a Comment