The Sunday Night Funnies Kingpin of Comedy competition that started on June 5 of this year is down to 18 quarter finalists vying for the title, Most Humorous Human in Wyoming. Along with the illustrious title, the crowned winner will receive $500 in prize money and gifts from the competition’s sponsors.
The venue for the competition is the Spectrum Entertainment Complex, 5656 Clyde Park SW, in Wyoming. The three semi final shows take place on Sundays, Oct. 9, 16 and Oct. 23. The Final round is scheduled for Oct. 30.
“I started the SNF in the Fall of 2018 because, back then, Dr. Grins was the only venue in the area where local comedians could get stage time,” said Brian Borbot, creator & MC of Sunday Night Funnies, who called his show “a blatant rip-off” of the Funniest Person in Grand Rapids contest, an annual event at Dr. Grins comedy club inside The B.O.B.
“Seeing that Wyoming is the fourteenth 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 most humorous human in Wyoming,” Borbot said. “The show has a great reputation with the Midwest comedy scene. I get comics from Chicago, Detroit and Toledo to come do the show all the time.”
The winner will headline the Sunday Night Funnies special 2023 LaughFest performance.
Laughfest is a major festival of comedy based in Grand Rapids that raises funds and awareness for the local chapter of Gilda’s Club, a support group for people with cancer, named for comedian Gilda Radner of Saturday Night Live fame, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
Borbot said that Sunday Night Funnies has been a part of Gilda’s Club LaughFest since its inception, and for a very personal reason.
“I had cancer at that time and (was) going through chemo(therapy) and radiation treatments. Since then we’ve raised over $26,000 for Gilda’s Club charity,” said Borbot. “In the 14 years the show has been in existence over 1,100 different comedians have performed at it.”
The way it works
“Sunday Night Funnies is a weekly show. I usually run the competition summer through fall. The rest of the year it’s usually 6-8 different comics performing with me as the MC,” said Borbot.
The line-up order is drawn as the show progresses, so (comedians) have no idea of when they’ll be going on stage – they could be first, or they could be dead last.
Before the show begins the audience members are given a ballot. After the last comedian in the competition that night performs the audience will pick three comedians they feel should advance to the next round.
The ballots are counted while a comic who is not in the competition performs. Comics chosen to move to the next round of the competition are announced at the end of the show.
In addition to cash, the winner will receive prizes from the Spectrum Entertainment Complex and Craig’s Cruisers, as well as gift cards from LaughFest and the Listening Room. The winner also receives a bowling pin trophy and a personalized Kingpin bowling shirt and a presentation with the Mayor of Wyoming who declares the comedian the funniest person in town.
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