The Comedy Festival Announces "Lucky 21" Competition Schedule
The Third Annual Comedy Festival – running November 14-17 at Caesar’s Palace – and Comcast’s Ziddio.com today announced the return of “The Lucky 21” talent search.
The press release in part reads:
The Comedy Festival (TCF) and Ziddio.com, the user-generated video sharing website launched by Comcast Interactive Media, today announced “The Lucky 21,” a talent search to determine the 21 best stand-up comedians in the country. 42 comedy clubs are teaming up with the Festival in one of the nation’s most ambitious stand-up competitions, which began July 18th in Columbus, Ohio and culminates mid-November at the third annual The Comedy Festival at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. The Lucky 21 will allow comedy fans to send their favorite comedians to TCF by supporting them at their local comedy club and voting for them online on www.ziddio.com/thelucky21.
In the first round of competition, 42 comedy clubs across the country will choose their top comedians to perform in front of a panel of judges. Two comedians from each club will be selected to advance to one of seven regional competitions. During the regionals, fans will have the opportunity to vote online at www.ziddio.com/thelucky21 for the top 20 comedians who will advance to Las Vegas and perform at The Comedy Festival.
Comedians not advancing from a regional competition will have the opportunity to enter the ‘Wild Card’ round by uploading a stand-up performance to www.ziddio.com allowing anyone to participate in the contest. Fans will vote online to determine which of these comedians will head to The Comedy Festival as the 21st comedian.
In Las Vegas, “The Lucky 21” will join a TCF lineup that already includes comedy legends Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. Following The Comedy Festival, each participant’s performance from Caesars Palace will be available on www.ziddio.com/thelucky21, where fans will have one more chance to support their favorite comedian by voting for “The Luckiest Comedian.” The winner will receive a prize package that includes a television appearance, meetings with network and industry executives and $10,000 cash.
“The Lucky 21” Competition Schedule
Columbus, OH: The Funny Bone Comedy Club & Café – Wednesday, July 18th
Virginia Beach, VA: The Virginia BeachFunny Bone – Wednesday, July 25th
Omaha, NE: The Omaha Funny Bone – Wednesday, July 25th
Boise, ID: The Funny Bone – Thursday, July 26th
Ogden, UT: Wiseguys Comedy Club – Friday, July 27th
Cleveland, OH: Hilarities Fourth Street Theatre – Sunday, July 29th
Hartford, CT: The Brew Ha Ha Comedy Club – Sunday, July 29th
Sioux Falls, SD: Nitwits Comedy Club – Wednesday, August 1st
Royal Oak, MI: Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle – Wednesday, August 1st
Denver,CO: Comedy Works – Wednesday, August 1st
Portland, ME: The Comedy Connection – Wednesday, August 1st
New York, NY: Gotham Comedy Club – Thursday, August 2nd
San Francisco, CA: Punchline Comedy Club – Sunday, August 5th
Tampa, FL: Side Splitters Comedy Club – Sunday, August 5th
Chicago, IL: Zanie’s Comedy Club – Monday, August 6th
St. Louis, MO: West Port Funny Bone – Tuesday, August 7th
Birmingham, AL: The Comedy Club at the Stardome – Tuesday, August 7th
Atlanta, GA: The Punchline – Tuesday, August 7th
Philadelphia, PA: Laff House – Wednesday, August 8th
Washington, DC: The D.C. Improv – Thursday, August 9th
Albuquerque, NM: Laffs Comedy Club – Sunday, August 12th
Charlotte, NC: The Comedy Zone – Monday, August 13th
San Antonio, TX: The Rivercenter Comedy Club – Monday, August 13th
Overland Park, KS: Stanford’s Comedy Club – Tuesday, August 14th
Minneapolis, MN: Acme Comedy Company – Tuesday, August 14th
Hermosa Beach, CA: The Comedy & Magic Club - Tuesday, August 14th
Los Angeles, CA: The Comedy Union – Thursday, August 16th
Addison, TX: The Addison Improv – Wednesday, August 15th
Boston, MA: The Comedy Connection – Wednesday, August 15th
Coconut Grove, FL: The Miami Improv – Wednesday, August 15th
Seattle, WA: The Comedy Underground – Wednesday, August 15th
Austin, TX: Cap City Comedy Club – Thursday, August 16th
Cedar Rapids, IA: Penguin’s Comedy Club – Thursday, August 16th
Vancouver, WA (outside Portland, OR): Moxie’s – Friday, August 17th
Indianapolis, IN: Morty’s Comedy Joint – Sunday, August 19th
New York, NY: Comix – Tuesday, August 21st
Tempe, AZ: The Tempe Improv – Wednesday, August 22nd
Sunnyvale, CA: Rooster T. Feathers – Wednesday, August 22nd
Louisville, KY: The Comedy Caravan – Wednesday, August 22nd
Chattanooga, TN: The Comedy Catch – Thursday, August 23rd
Two New York slots and nada for Vegas? The formality of venues and aversion to taking many risks in the line-up department have already established TCF as an exercise in economics (and HBO self-promotion) over experimentation, but to disregard completely a city with ties to the likes of Brian Regan, Doug Stanhope, Jo Koy, Jimmy Kimmel and more is a hard punchline to swallow. Hopefully as shows and performers are announced in the coming months the Fest won’t be afraid to shake things up. After all, there’s a reason the now-defunct U.S. Comedy Festival/Aspen Comedy Festival finally stopped appealing to its vacation-happy clientele: Laughter is not an exclusive, tightly-controlled privilege. Where festivals are concerned, fun is just as important as funny.
And yeah, those "/thelucky21" links don't seem to work quite yet, do they?