PORT TOWNSEND — The Upstage Theater & Restaurant will be given over to stand-up comics — 10 of them — as the third annual Olympic Peninsula Comedy Contest gets under way Friday night.
Both female and male comics from Seattle, the suburbs and the Olympic Peninsula will vie for cash, bookings and the love of the audience starting at 8 p.m. Admission is $10 at The Upstage, 923 Washington St.
“You, the audience, will choose our winner” via balloting after everyone has delivered a set, said organizer Steve Strout of Olympic Peninsula Comedy.
“This, like all Olympic Peninsula Comedy events, is all-ages,” Strout added, “with discretion due to possible adult language or themes.”
Along with master of ceremonies Xung Lam — last year’s Olympic Peninsula Comedy Contest winner — Friday’s lineup has local comics Taylor Patterson and Bridget Young making their debuts, plus Seattle-area performers J.R. Berard, Meghan Flaherty, Nigel Larson, Emmett Montgomery, Barbara Sehr, Silas Lindenstein, Jer Percio and Monica Nevi.
Nevi, a young comic from Renton, was a top-five finalist in the Bob and Tom Busch Light Open Mic Contest and has performed at Seattle’s Laughs Comedy Spot and Tacoma Comedy Underground.
Flaherty’s resume, meanwhile, includes winning the Eastern Washington Stand-up Comedy Competition and taking second place in the Put Up or Shut Up Comedy Invitational, both in 2009.
To reserve seats at Friday’s contest, phone The Upstage at 360-385-2216. For more details, visit www.OlyPenComedy.com.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.