By WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org
What was once was 84 comedians is now down to 18 as the Sunday Night Funnies Kingpin of Comedy competition enters its semifinal round.
The contest started June 5 with its first of twelve qualifying rounds then it was onto the six quarterfinal rounds which ran Aug. 28- Oct. 2. Now it’s the three semifinal rounds on Oct. 9, 16, and 23 with the finals being held on Oct. 30.
Each week of the semifinals, six comedians are given eight minutes to perform. The line-up order is drawn as the show progresses, so the comedians have no idea of when they’ll be going on stage — it could be first, it could be last. Before the show begins, the audience members are given a ballot. After the last comedian in the competition performs the that night’s audience will pick three comedians they feel should advance to the next round. The ballots are counted while a comic not in the competition performs and the comics moving on in the competition are announced at the end of the show.
“The Kingpin of Comedy competition is a blatant rip-off of the Funniest Person in Grand Rapids contest”, said Brian B. (Brian Borbot), creator & master of ceremonies of the Sunday Night Funnies. Borbot is referring to the successful annual event at Dr. Grins comedy club inside The B.O.B. downtown Grand Rapids.
“Seeing that Wyoming is the 14th largest city in Michigan, I thought it deserved its own stand-up comedy competition with the overall winner getting a prize package worthy of the title most humorous human in Wyoming,” Borbot said.
The Sunday Night Funnies is a weekly live stand-up comedy performance featuring a variety of comics from Michigan and around the country. The Sunday Night Funnies is a free admission show. The new fall/winter start time is 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. The Sunday Night Funnies is located inside Wyomng’s Spectrum Entertainment Complex, 5656 Clyde Park SW.
