Tuesday, August 21, 2012

OFFICIAL SFCC-37 ROSTER ANNOUNCED


Here is the Official Roster of the 37th Annual San Francisco Comedy Competition (accurate to 8/21/12)

preliminary week one: 9/14 to 9/17
1) mo alexander (memphis)
2) henry coleman (los angeles)
3) michael harrison (toronto)
4) kellye howard (chicago)
5) susan jones (seattle)
6) sean keane (san francisco)
7) xung lam (seattle)
8) justin lucas (san francisco)
9) ashley austin morris (los angeles)

10)  toby muresianu (boston)
11) david powell (boston/los angeles)
12) matt ruby (new york)
13) murv seymour (tampa)
14) prashanth venkataramanujam (chicago/los angeles)
15) dave williamson (miami)
16) the greg wilson (dallas)



preliminary week two: 9/20 to 9/23
1) tony baker (los angeles)
2) mike baldwin (kansas city)
3) cameron buchholtz (austin)
4) john conroy (minneapolis)
5) stefan davis (madison)
6) tanyalee davis (las vegas)
7) dj real (san francisco)
8) mike drucker (san francisco)
9) laura hayden (hermosa beach)
10) paul hooper (charlotte/new york)
11) mike merryfield (menasha)
12) dom pare (toronto)

13) tommy savitt (brooklyn)
14) andrew sleighter (bellingham/los angeles)
15) kortney shane williams (tampa)
16) jono zalay (new york)


(There may be some roster churn before the start of the competition, so for those interested, I'll post revisions here...)




Friday, August 17, 2012

APPLICATION PERIOD NOW OVER

The application period for the 37th Annual San Francisco Comedy Competition has now passed.  (If you were thinking about applying for this year's event, you should make plans now to apply for next year's event...which will start accepting applications in mid-May of 2013.)    

So many talented performers are now being considered for the 32 spots that will make up this year's competition roster.  No matter what decisions are made--I'd like to thank everyone who has applied...everyone who has made this job absolutely impossible.  You rock!

Look for updates on the roster selection process on this blog to find out who the 32 that will compete in this year's San Francisco Comedy Competition...coming soon!

Monday, May 28, 2012

SFCC 37: Application Process


SFCC-37 Application Process

1)  Are you eligible?
  • Are you at least 21 years of age?
  • Were you NOT in last year's competition?

NOTE:  Being eligible is one thing.  Being "ready" is quite another.  Don't look at the five minute sets required in the first round of the competition and think "Oh, I could manage that..."  That's really not the point.  You should really be comfortable working as a professional feature level comedian with the ability to be a headliner/show closer...or on the verge of doing so.  If you feel you'd be stretching yourself far beyond your capabilities to get to that point, there's nothing wrong with concentrating your efforts on being truly ready for competition NEXT year.

With that obligatory warning complete, are you still interested in applying for this year?  Wonderful!  Then, by all means, read on.



2)  Is it time to apply?
  • The application process runs from May 1st through August 15th
  • Applications received after August 15th risk not receiving full consideration, depending on how far along we are with the roster selection process when we do receive such a late application.

NOTE:  We want to get the best possible competition roster.  While we're not going to automatically reject an application that gets to us before our start date, and, unless we've picked our entire roster, we're unlikely to outright reject a top quality application just because we've received it after August 15tht—you should know that we do the majority of our roster consideration starting in July and it really heats up in August.  Obviously, as decisions are made, the number of available roster spots will get smaller—so, there’s no point in waiting until it's too late.  And, if it's getting close to the deadline...or if that deadline has already past…perhaps you should consider making a better impression, by being better prepared, for NEXT year.


3)  What do I need to include in my application?
  • Basic information:  Your name, your age, your location, your phone number and your email address
  • Brief biography describing your comedy experience
  • Video of you performing comedy

NOTE:  Your brief biography shouldn't just be your promotional boilerplate.  There's no point in including stuff like "This comedian always leaves 'em laughing" that often pads out many working comedians' bios.  What we're interested in are things like how long you've been performing comedy, what are your major comedy career milestones...things like that.  If you have recommendations or references, they are optional but you can certainly include them for our benefit--as long as they know that you've included them in your application…because, we may contact them to discuss your candidacy.

As far as your video goes, we’ll take whatever you send us…send us what shows us you doing what you do best.  Obviously, it helps if we can see and hear you clearly.  We recommend clips that are approximately ten minutes long, unedited, of you performing stand-up comedy for an audience.  That’s what we recommend…but the key is to let us see what you do, as your video represents you when we compare you to other applicants. 

As to why we recommend unedited ten-minute long videos:  Videos shorter than five minutes don't show us what you could actually do in the competition.  Videos showing us your entire two hour long theater headline set...well, the chances of us actually watching ALL of your lengthy video would be slim...so, hopefully you opened strong.  Videos that are an edited montage of snippets of various performances make it hard for us to clearly see how you actually perform.


4)  How do I get my application to you?
  • The quickest and easiest way would be to apply by email.  Include the link to an online hosted video.  Send your application directly to pgreyy@gmail.com
  • Or, you can choose to apply by mail, sending us your video on DVD or VHS.  Mail to Peter Greyy  2816 NW64th St.  Seattle, WA 98107

NOTE:  Please make it clear that this is your application to the San Francisco Comedy Competition.  It should say "Application for the San Francisco Comedy Competition" in the title/subject line of your email or on your envelope if you're applying via mail.


5)  Can I audition in person, instead of applying with a video?
  • At this time, there are no San Francisco-based showcases scheduled.  This may change.  If San Francisco-based showcases are scheduled, participation will be by invitation only and will be limited to San Francisco-area performers.
  • If you are a San Francisco-based performer and would be interested in being considered for an invitation to such a showcase, if and when they are scheduled, please email me at pgreyy@gmail.com and put "Interested in San Francisco Competition Showcase" in the subject line.
  • However, it is recommended that you should apply with a video…just to be certain that your candidacy is considered.

6)  Other Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an application fee? 
Not at this time, but in the future, there may be.  (Personally, I’m against entry fees…but they are becoming more and more common in our industry.)
-
Why do you need to be 21 years of age?
Some shows are held in casinos that deny entry to those under 21, even performers.
-
What are my chances of being selected?
Generally, thirty-two comedians will compete in the competition.  We expect to received applications from over 600 comedians from around the world this year.    
-
When will I know if I've been selected or rejected?
That’s a very good question.  The roster selection discussions go on throughout the process.  Some will receive invitations before the application period has ended, but most of our applicants will still be part of the roster consideration discussions that will happen after the application deadline has passed.  Obviously, we need to have our roster decisions completed before the competition actually starts (the second week of September.)  I make it a point to let every applicant know what their status is as soon as I can (when final roster decisions are approved by the Executive Producer) as I know that holding an entire month open is a hardship for any working comedian (as I am a comedian myself.)   
-
What if I have other questions that aren't answered here?
Feel free to email Director of Talent, Peter Greyy (pgreyy@gmail.com) with any questions you may have.  I’ll do my best to get answers back to you as quickly as possible.

Best of luck to everyone considering applying for this year's event!

(The 37th Annual San Francisco Comedy Competition will run from September to early October 2012.  The competition takes place in venues in Northern California--and more details about the specifics of this year's event will be posted at a later date.)