The Sunday Night Funnies Kingpin of Comedy competition enters its semi-final round

Making them laugh: Pagan, Aaron Cohen, Jay Hunter, and Ricarlo Winston (SNF)

WKTV Staff
joanne@wktv.org

What was once was 120 comedians is now down to 16, the Sunday Night Funnies Kingpin of Comedy competition enters its semi-final round this Sunday.

The contest started May 19 with its first of twelve qualifying rounds, which wrapped up last Sunday. The four quarter-final rounds ran Aug. 11- Sept. 1 with two semi-final rounds on Sept. 8 and 15 with the finals being held on Sept. 22. The competition takes place at The Sunny Night Funnies home, Spectrum Entertainment Complex, 5656 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming.

For the semi-final and final round eight comedians are given ten minutes to perform. The line-up order is drawn as the show progresses, so they 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 the night of the show. The audience picks three of the ten they feel should advance to the next round. The ballots are counted while a comic not in the competition performs at the end and the winners are announced afterward.

A packed room for the annual Kingpin of Comedy hosted by the Sunday Night Funnies. (SNF)

“The Kingpin of Comedy competition is a blatant rip-off of the Funniest Person in Grand Rapids contest,” said Brian B. (Brian Borbot), creator & MC of the Sunday Night Funnies. Brian 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 funniest person in Wyoming!” Brian said.

The prizes are prizes from Wyoming businesses Spectrum Entertainment Complex and Craig’s Cruisers. Other prizes comes from LaughFest, 20 Monroe Live, and Party in the Park (a concert @ 5/3 Ballpark.). The winner also receives a Day-Glo bowling pin trophy, and a presentation from the City of Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll declaring the winner the funniest person in town.

The Sunday Night Funnies is the creation of Grand Rapids stand-up comedian Brian B. (Brian Borbot.) It’s 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 that starts at 8:30 p.m. at the Spectrum Entertainment Complex, 5656 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming.