By Deborah Reed
deborah@wktv.org
The 5th annual Kingpin of Comedy competition at Sunday Night Funnies (SNF) is delivering weekly standup comedy routines and drawing large crowds.
From here, there, and everywhere
Located at Woody’s Press Box inside the Spectrum Entertainment Complex, SNF is a free admission weekly standup comedy show that is geared toward featuring comedians from around the Midwest. However, Brian B. has had several comedians travel from out of state to participate.
Brian B. remembers comedians driving up from Alabama just to do the show. “They did it for the trip experience. I picked up a woman at the airport who flew in from New Jersey to do the show,” Brian B. added.
SNF regularly draws comics from Detroit, Chicago, and Toledo, with the Kingpin of Comedy competition featuring a comedian from Canada.
Brian B. said many comics are willing to do a routine “for the stage time and to perform before a good-sized audience. It’s a very low-key, low-budget kind of thing.”
Voting system encourages audience participation
A comedian himself, Brian B. opens each show and serves as emcee.
With only three more quarterfinal rounds, the competition will soon be moving into three weeks of semifinals, with finals taking place Sunday, Oct. 29.
The Kingpin of Comedy winner will be determined with a voting system, so the audience is encouraged to participate.
Audience members are given a ballot at the beginning of the show – the only requirement is that they vote for three comics, “no more, no less.”
This helps ensure that the comics work to win over the entire audience, not just friends they bring along, Brian B. explained.
As for comedic content, Brian B. said adult situations and swearing do occur.
“It’s not a clean comedy show, and I don’t bill it as that,” said Brian B.
“I don’t censor the comics,” Brian B. continued. “That is a slippery slope and I won’t do that. [Content] is subjective – you don’t know what offends people and what doesn’t offend people.”
Filling a comedic void
Brian B. began SNF to fill a gap for local comedians.
“At the time, the only place local comics could get face-time was Dr. Grins, and that was only on Thursday nights,” Brian B. said. “They’d get three-minutes of time and could only perform every three months. There was a void that needed to be filled for local comedians.”
That void has been filled with approximately 1,200 different SNF comics over the years.
The SNF stage has found a home at several different locations since its inception in 2008, with the first being in Douglas, MI. Shortly after, however, Brian B. wanted to bring the show closer to home.
He approached Bob Sullivan, who was owner of the Radisson Hotel on Ann Street in Grand Rapids at the time. A partnership was born, and SNF took the stage for eight years.
When the hotel changed ownership, all entertainment was disbanded and Brian B. was once again on the hunt for a stage.
While having lunch at Spectrum Entertainment Complex, Brian B. began exploring and found Woody’s Press Box. Thinking it would be a good place for a comedy club, Brian B. approached the owner and SNF resumed in February 2018.
Audience attendance was slow-moving at first, with a recent uptick in numbers as former audience members realize the show is still in Grand Rapids, just in a different location.
Comics are also flocking to the stage, with 91 comedians participating in the opening round of Kingpin of Comedy.
“I don’t want to leave anyone out who wants to be in it, so the opening round was 14 weeks long,” said Brian B.
Brian B. works to encourage novice comedians, especially those who are unsure about participating in competitions.
Brian B.’s response: “Just do it. It’s still stage time, so you still get to get up before an audience, and – who knows – you might hit right with the audience and advance.”
Don’t miss out – be “in the know”
SNF is located at 5656 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming (between Meijer and Craig’s Cruisers), and the show begins at 8:30 p.m. Doors open one hour before start time, and food and drinks are available for purchase.
Watch the SNF Facebook page for updates and announcements about start times, comedian participation, and competition results.
To find out more about SNF, visit these sites: GRTV, YouTube, Facebook.
