The 2010 National College Comedy Competition got its start in the Bay Area on April 12 with a first-round try-out at Café Du Nord. With a panel of judges and audience input, the teams from SF State and the University of California, Santa Cruz were selected for the rest of the competition.
The March Madness-like tournament, hosted by Rooftop Comedy and sponsored by Turner Broadcasting System, is in its third year and has included 32 college campuses in the nationwide competition.
Spencer DeVine, a junior journalism major, used his Mitch Hedberg-style jokes to make it onto the team representing SF State. He said that when waiting in the back with a room full of comedians, "almost every sentence was a joke."
"But at the same time, it's also nerve-wracking because it is a competition." DeVine said.
For the second round called "Select 16," each comedian was asked to talk about a time when they didn't fit in. DeVine put on a serious face and calmed the crowd. With both hands on the microphone, he said , "This one time, I had to do a comedy competition next to a Scottish tablecloth," referencing the shirt that his teammate Jesse Fernandez had on.
Fernandez, who specializes in the production of short comedic films, only had less than two months of training in stand-up comedy. He said that the best way to become a better comedian was to "just doing it, and writing is the best thing you can do."
Another member was sophomore Andrew Moore, who won over the audience with a deranged song about stalking a girl.
Team SF State's journey ended May 3, when they lost in the "Select 16" round to Loyola Marymount University, who will be competing against the team from University of California, Berkeley. The voting was open to the public on the tournament's official website for five days.
The last four teams standing that make it to the "Funniest Four" will compete in the National Finals held at Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival in Aspen, Colo. on June 9.
