WHO WILL BE AMERICA’S “NEXT BIG COMIC”?
NASHVILLE – February 9, 2010 – CMT and Rooftop Comedy have partnered in a national online search for America’s NEXT BIG COMIC. The competition launched today at CMT.com, where 12 of the best new voices in comedy will battle it out for fan affection and a chance to perform at the 2010 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival in June. Rooftop Comedy, the leading distributor of interactive comedy videos, scoured talent from across its network of 21 performance venues to hand pick 12 finalists on the verge of breaking out.
The five-week online competition is the precursor leading into CMT’s BIG NEW COMEDY WEEK, which kicks off March 8 and is a week long comedy celebration starring some of the nation’s hottest comics, including Melissa Peterman, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry The Cable Guy, Ron White, Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan. The final four contestants will be featured in short video introductions on-air throughout CMT’s comic-themed week, with the final winner to be revealed March 15.
“CMT fans love to laugh, and we have just the cast of comics to help them do that,” said Lewis Bogach, Vice President of Production at CMT. “This partnership with Rooftop Comedy is a great way to bring our audience more of the content they love, while giving these undiscovered comics a national audience.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to be working with CMT to help find America’s Next Big Comic,” said Will C. Rogers, CEO of Rooftop Comedy. “Recording from our nationwide network of comedy clubs gives us a unique opportunity to identify comics on the verge of really taking off. Now this competition gives America the opportunity to see – and determine – who is going to be the next big star.”
Each week, viewers can watch new material from remaining comics at CMT.com. The field narrows from 12 to eight on February 15, and again from eight to the remaining four on February 22. In the final round, contestants will have three weeks to dazzle America with their style of comedy when they must share the stage in a head-to-head battle for the title of NEXT BIG COMIC.
The top 12 finalists for NEXT BIG COMIC were revealed at CMT.com today, and include Rooftop favorites:
Roy Wood Jr.
Josh Sneed
Pete Lee
Dwayne Perkins
Jamie Lissow
John Ramsey
Jessi Campbell
Andy Ritchie
Chad Daniels
Keith Alberstadt
Ryan Singer
Lachlan Patterson
Visit CMT.COM and vote today!
Posted: February 9th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff. Author: Chris G .
Comments: 2
Comments
Comment from NFL Draft
Time: February 21, 2010, 12:09 am
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Comment from Cecil Porter
Time: February 10, 2010, 12:53 pm
A comedy contest with unlimited online voting, what could possibly go wrong? Thank goodness comedy isn’t subjective and computers aren’t programmable.