Thursday, November 13, 2008

Last Laugh Finals!

Last Laugh Finals!

Come out to the Finals for the Miller Lite Last Laugh Comedy Competition at the Kathouse Lounge on Wednesday, November 19 and watch as one person walks away with $1000 and the chance to be the MC of the Kathouse Comedy Night!


Watch the Videos online right now at Z963.com!


Check out these articles about the event from the K-State Collegian:



5 remain in Last Laugh

by: Joel Aschbrenner
photo by Sara Manco



Making a joke about stalker ex-boyfriends, the comedian known as AO hides behind a chair during Last Comic Standing at KatHouse Wednesday night.



After the nine competitors had taken the stage at The KatHouse Lounge’s Last Laugh comedy competition, five remained and one emerged as a fan favorite and a frontrunner for the top prize.

Last Laugh is a last-man-standing style elimination competition.

Aspiring comedians perform each week, and a panel of judges pick their favorites to move on to the next round, until a winner is crowned.

Luke Hansen, a junior in marketing, earned the biggest laughs of the night, and seemed like the audience’s favorite comedian.

Natalie Grossenbacher was in the audience Wednesday and said she thinks Hansen, who is known on stage as “The Colonel,” has the best chance to win.

“The Colonel is my favorite,” she said. “He relates really well to all the students, because he is the ultimate Kansas boy.”

Most of Hansen’s jokes related to being from a small Kansas town, and seemed to hit home with the audience.

“It seems like a lot of people can really understand his perspective on things,” said Karie Albert, a senior in advertising.

She said she thought Hansen had the best fan support and the best chance of winning.

“He’s got a lot of friends here, but there are also a lot of other people here that think he is really funny,” Albert said.

While the audience gave him a vote of confidence, Hansen said he thought he bombed at first.

“I didn’t get the laughs I got before,” he said. “In the end, I guess I thought I did OK.”

Last Laugh is the first time Hansen has performed stand-up comedy. He said he hopes to win but is just glad to get the opportunity to perform.

“I think I have as good of a chance as anyone else,” he said. “It’s hard to say, because everyone up there was pretty good.”

The fourth and final round of the competition will be at 9 p.m. Wednesday at KatHouse. The winner will receive $1,000, and the opportunity to be the regular host of KatHouse’s comedy night on Thursdays.

The competition, which is sponsored by KatHouse, 101.5 K-Rock, Z96.3, Miller Lite and The Library Discount Liquor, started with a field of 17 competitors Oct. 30.


Comedians Moving On
Luke Hansen
Mary Renee
Shelby Muha
Paul Nyakatura
Cody Detrick

Comedians Eliminated
A.O.
Bret Crandel
Daniel Kelly
Adam Rigdon

Check out the article on the Collegian's website here.


Here's the article from Round 2:

2nd round of KatHouse's Last Laugh narrows field to 9

Written by: Joel Aschbrenner
Photo By: Joslyn Brown


As part of Last Laugh, a stand-up comedy competition, Adam Rigdon, senior in social sciences, shows the use of his artificial leg as a "walkie talkie," to hold his cell phone as he drives. Rigdon was one of 13 comedians who had five minutes to perform their bits on the stage at KatHouse Lounge. The event was sponsored by K-Rock 101.5 and Z96.3.





For the second straight week a group of hopeful comedians took the stage at the KatHouse Lounge. And for the second straight week several of the comedians failed to win over the audience or even capture its attention.

The comedians competed Wednesday night in the Last Laugh competition, sponsored by KatHouse, 101.5 K-Rock, and Z96.3. The competition is a last-man-standing style contest, where the winner takes home $1,000 and the right to host KatHouse’s Thursday comedy nights.

Wednesday night started with 13 comedians in the competition. After each comedian performed for five minutes, a group of judges conferred and whittled the group of comedians down to nine.

“Rough crowd tonight,” said J.C. King, the contest’s host. “We had a lot of really funny comedians up here tonight, but I guess they didn’t think they were too funny.”

King said he thought the comedians deserved more respect from the crowd.

“[The comedians] have vastly improved,” he said. “Every week as we narrow it down they just keep getting better and better.”

Cody Detrick, who also is moving on to the next round of the competition, said he didn’t mind the crowd.

“Up front they were a little rough,” he said. “I like a rough crowd though, it helps me learn.”

Detrick performed stand-up for the first time last week, and only wrote his material Wednesday morning.

“Honestly I thought I bombed completely,” he said. “I appreciate the judges giving me the opportunity to move on.”

Despite performing in front of an unruly and occasionally inattentive crowd some comedians were able to fill the room with laughter.

Luke Hansen, who was known on stage as simply “The Colonel,” was one of the crowds favorites.

“I thought the crowd was great,” he said. “They really got behind me when I was up there.”

Hansen heard some of the best laughs of the night, and looks to be a favorite in the competition, despite performing comedy for the first time.

“I don’t want to be cocky, but I think I have a good chance,” Hansen said. “Winning would mean everything to me. It would be a real stepping stone.”

The competition’s first round was Oct. 29 with 17 competitors and saw four comedians eliminated. The winner of Last Laugh will be announced Nov. 19, when KatHouse hosts the final round of the competition.

Check out the article on the Collegian's website here.


Here's the Article from Round 1:

Last Laugh competition kicks off


Glass bottles clanging, ice rattling in tumblers, friends conversing: the normal sounds of an Aggieville bar were interrupted intermittently by laughter Wednesday night at the KatHouse Lounge.
The bar hosted the first round of Last Laugh, a comedy competition that pitted 17 comedians against each-other in a last-man-standing type of competition.
The comedian who gets the last laugh, and wins the competition, will win $1,000 at the finals on November 19, at KatHouse.
Each of the comedians performed for three minutes on stage, trying to impress the crowd and a group of judges. The judges eliminated four comedians at the end of the night, leaving their 13 favorite to compete for the next stage of the competition.
While several of the comedians earned huge laughs, many couldn't win over the audience, or even break out from under the crowd noise.
"It takes a lot of bravery to get up here and get in front of a crowd that big," said J.C. King, one of show's hosts. "I was up there for a little while and it was tough. I didn't think there would be that many hecklers."
The crowd filed in before the 9 p.m show and was lined out the door as the show started.
"I'm so happy with the turnout," said Shawn Rock, who also hosted the show. "I think a lot of people in Aggieville are ready for something different like this."
Mary Renee, a former K-State student, was one of the crowds favorites comedians. She is a comedy veteran in Manhattan and has opened for Tracy Morgan at a Union Program Council event, and hosts Rocky Horror Picture shows in Manhattan.
"This is a lot different because you get eliminated," she said. "There's a little more pressure than the other things I do."
Renee said she had never perfomed at KatHouse but had watched comedy there before. She said the bar supports comedy well.
"I think I did pretty well, and I think the crowd is pretty good," Renee said. "There is an amazing number of people here. For a Wednesday night, it is a very good crowd."
The group of five judges included local stand-up comedian, Tom Mahoney, two local radio show hosts, and a representative from K-State Athletics.
The comedians who survived the first round of Last Laugh will perform again at 9 p.m. Wednesday at KatHouse. Four more comedians will be eliminated after that show.
The final round of the competition is scheduled for Nov. 19.

Check out the article on the Collegian's website here.

No comments: