Ever hear the one about the comedian who was arrested after performing at a big stand-up competition?
He knocked them all dead.
Ba-dump-bump!
If you can make up a better joke than that one, you might be just the kind of person being sought for the first ever Sonoma Laughfest Stand-up Competion. Laughfest, a four-day comedy blowout running at the Sonoma Community Center from Oct. 22-25, is the brainchild of actress-comedian Brook Tansley, a former member of Amy Pohler’s Upright Citizens Brigade improve troupe, now a resident of Sonoma. Best known for her run on Broadway as Belle in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” Tansley is a regular performing member of Transcendence Theater Company, and like that annual song-and-dance showcase, Laughfest will be importing about 50 professional comedians from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles for the event, a blend of stand-up, sketch comedy, improvisation, musical comedy, and various combinations thereof.
But before the festival begins, local comic with a flair for a well-crafted joke are invited to participate in Laughfest’s stand-up contest, taking place Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Community Center. Signups are currently being taken for five-minute spots, to be judged by a panel of professional funny-people and the audience. The winner will receive a pair of passes for Laughfest, an opportunity to appear onstage at the festival, and possibly eternal fame and endless glamor. Reservations must be made in advance, through the Laughfest website www.sonomalaughfest.com. There is information on the Pre-Festival Events page, or you could look under the heading, ‘Get Involved,” click on “compete,” and fill out the form.
The competition begins at 7 p.m., and is open to the public. All seats $5.
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