Edmonton, Comedy Idol- the showdown!!

I am back in Edmonton after....what has it been? 10 months!!?? Geeze, has it been that long? I was pumped when I first got the gig then I found that most of the week was Emcee work. I was hoping to do a longer set, show off new material but have been given the task of Emcee, host or what ever title makes you happy. I know my job is to keep the flow of "Comedy Idol" and later the Harland Williams conceert, only Friday is my feature night. I look forward to working with Harland as he is an awesome comic and a great guy to hang out with.

So if there are few features for me what do I do? Make the most of it of course! Emcee is a position that allows you, no forces you to think on your feet, write as you go. Who knows, This week with may produce a bunch of new material.
Last night I was impressed with level of talent coming up through the Edmonton ranks. Congrats to Kendall Garyluk on his win! An impressive set!
Tonight is the showdown of all the finallists, Calgary and Edmonton. Calgary has also had some very strong new talent this year. It will be a great contest to be sure.
My job is to ensure I set the tone of the audience, keep things flowing smoothly and make sure the focus is on the contestants and not misdirected by some over inflated ego, taking jabs at me, just to switch the spotlight on himself. It is the night of the contestants....PERIOD!
The industry is in need of these new comics, there is always room for more....so long as they are good. Some of the veterans have moved onto other projects, countries etc. and are just not there to work all the rooms often. It is as though a new crop is to be harvested and unleashed on the audiences of Canada.
This batch will be hard to judge, I am glad I am not on the panel to make the choice.
I will do my job with professionalism and enjoy watching the young (and some older) minds of these newbies show off their talent! Good luck to all!