I’m afraid that I don’t have as much to say about last night’s Seattle International Comedy Competition show at Emory’s on Silver Lake in Everett. Not because it wasn’t a good show–it clearly was, as these sixteen performers in Preliminary Week One have clearly demonstrated themselves to be quite consistent in making audiences laugh. And not because I was preoccupied with celebrating the Sounders FC’s second MLS Cup victory–though, your humble recapper was certainly happy about that.
No, I can’t say much about last night’s show because I didn’t get to watch it. Emory’s on Silver Lake, always a great place to see a comedy show and you should be attending their regular Everett Comedy Night shows that Cory Michaelis produces there whenever you can, was completely sold out…so much so that the performers and members of the production staff weren’t able to be in the main restaurant during the show!
Don’t cry for us, as we were well taken care of in the fenced in lake deck (with toasty space heaters above us and a gas fireplace making us feel at home.) Emory’s is also a place where you can get great food–I particularly enjoyed my pepperoni pizza, but everything I’ve had there over the years that SICC has been going there has been excellent.
What I can tell you about the show is that every time the door to the deck opened, the crowd was roaring with laughter or encore point-worthy applause…as once again, every performer seemed to be hitting home runs.
Definitely the loudest eruption that we could feel through the windows and walls of the deck came after Cheri Hardman’s set. This definitely seemed to be her element…and her crowd…and from all reports, she delivered a comfortable confident performance that was worthy of a podium finish–and indeed, she made her first Nightly Top 5 on this night.
Of course, it’s not all about the audience reactions–we do have a panel of judges–different for every show of the competition–who score each competitor with numbers and math and stuff like that. Our judge panel tonight, like all panels so far this year, loved Nancy Norton and Adam Pasi…as well as Andrew Frank and Mike Devore who have made Nightly Top 5s on other nights as well…but their top scores were reserved for Vancouver, BC’s Andrew Packer.
Andrew is a performer. His use of act-outs, his very expressive face, all of his physicality is tailored to best enhance his well-written material. He puts it all together into a complete package that is proving to be both an audience and our judges’ favorite. And he claimed the top honor on this night in Everett.
Now, while Everett loves its comedy and they packed out Emory’s again to see this year’s visit by this competition–they don’t seem to be keen on sticking around to hear who did the best. Perhaps they’re concerned about getting up for work in the morning–but I’d say about 75% of the room cleared out before the announcement of the Nightly Top 5. …which, they might have been intrigued to find out, turned into a Nightly Top 6…as following closely behind Andrew Packer in the judges’ minds were BOTH Cheri Hardman and Nancy Norton, who tied for second. After that, it was the usual suspects: Andrew Frank in third, Mike Devore in fourth and Adam Pasi in fifth.
One name that might have been part of the end of the night photograph was Winnipeg’s Benji Rothman…who had some fun with the sometimes feisty Everett crowd during his set last night. The problem was, that fun came at the expense of his time management…his set went over-time and he incurred a time penalty that pushed him out of the Top 5–despite his performance having earned him scores that would have put him there.
Joining Benji in cheering on those who made the Nightly Top 5+1 instead of being part of it were Dallas’ Thomas Nichols, Seattle’s Birungi Birungi and Los Angeles’ Liz Glazer…who all were within a stone’s throw of being in the end of night photo.
SICC-40 Preliminary Week One-Night Four
OFFICIAL RESULTS
1. Andrew Packer (Vancouver, BC)
TIE–2. Cheri Hardman (Federal Way, WA)
TIE–2. Nancy Norton (Denver, CO)
3. Andrew Frank (Seattle, WA)
4. Mike Devore (Seattle, WA)
5. Adam Pasi (Portland, OR)
(…and yes, we know, this is not how numbers work…but it’s much more fun, don’t you think?)
There’s only one show left for the sixteen incredible comedians in this group. Preliminary Week One ends with a Monday night show at the Comedy Underground in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. At the end of this fifth and final show, not only will we find out who makes the Nightly Top 5, we will find out which of our sixteen comedians will advance to the Semi-Finals…as they will be the five to make the Weekly Top 5.
Who will have earned the scores they’ve needed in this week’s shows to move on? Well, we’ll find out soon.
And I can tell you that it is going to be extremely interesting to see how this all shakes out. While some of our performers are in a very good position to advance…there is definitely still a lot to play for in this final show…as the chance to move on hangs in the balance, with any number of takers trying to reach up and take control of it. …and then, after the Sounders parade, Tuesday night kicks off Preliminary Week Two–the first of five shows for a completely different batch of sixteen comedians. At the end of their week, five of them will join the five who advance from Preliminary Week One.
So, if you see both shows–Monday and Tuesday–at the Comedy Underground, you will see all 32 competitors in this year’s competition. You will see this year’s champion.
But, first things first…Preliminary Week One-Night Five at the Comedy Underground…tonight (Monday, November 11th.)
