That battle for comedy dominance known as the Funniest Comic in Texas is about to get under way and the tributes have received their invitation to join the games.
OK, so the annual comedy contest doesn't have the excitement of a futuristic reality show in which teenagers slaughter each other for the world's amusement, but at least you'll know that it will be intentionally funny.
Karen Cunningham, the box office manager and local talent coordinator for the Addison Improv, confirmed for Mixmaster that the 24 invitations have been sent out for this year's contest, which starts November 26.
The club is still awaiting official confirmation from the invitees. So far, Cunningham said the club has received confirmation from comics Josh Johnson, Chris Darden, Christian Hughes, Grant Redmond, Dave Little, Clifton Hall, Mac Blake, Sheridi Lester, Brad LaCour, Clint Werth, Kasambwe Mpulamasaka and Jay LaFarr.
This year's contest will consist of three semi-final shows starting on November 26 at the Addison Improv on Belt Line Road and a final competition show on December 15. The three semi-final shows start at 8 p.m. and the final show starts at 7:30 p.m.
"Last year, we did about six shows and there were a lot more comics," Cunningham said. "This year, we decided to take a different approach as far as submissions. We reached out to the comedy club owners around the state such as the Capitol City Comedy Club in Austin, the River City Comedy Club in San Antonio and the Houston Improv to see who they thought would be good for the show."
All of the competition's final details such as judges and prizes are still in the works but Cunningham promised the final winner will receive a big cash prize and feature work at the club as well as their own headlining night at the Addison Improv. The audience will pick the winners of the semi-final rounds and a panel of judges of "people connected to the comedy community" will choose the final winner.
Cunningham said they hope that narrowing the field down to the cream of the comedy crop will make for better shows and a better competition in the race to the finals.
"These really are the best people in the area and it makes for a good show for them to do eight to 10 minutes each whereas in the past, they had to do five to seven minutes," Cunningham said. "It doesn't give a good view of that person. You can't warm up to them. So it's nice to give them a bit more time. They're not just doing their best jokes right off the bat."
