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In bars from downtown Portland to Gresham to Vancouver and back, something cool is quietly sweeping through: the Portland Amateur Comedy Contest. Twenty-two comics and 26 shows—all in just over a month.

I watched a first round last night at the Boiler Room and, to my surprise, more than half of the comics were of a much higher caliber than the "amateur" title might suggest (although the night was not without a few stiffs).

Festival co-organizer, former champ, and killer touring act Lonnie Bruhn shared the contest's criteria: competitors must've made less than $1,000 in the last year; not appeared as a "featured," or touring act performing 30-odd minute sets; and have not made the finals in previous years.

Cuts were made before the public performances began. Bruhn and co-organizer Jon Green whittled a pool of 50-odd applicants down by more than half. Those who made the cut are some of Portland's best up and comers. Some I've written about often, including Phil Schalberger, Christian Ricketts, and the boys from Comedy is OK, Andrew Michaan and Mikey Kampmann. Of course, there are other fresh faces and worthly mentions like Jimmy Newstetter, Whitney Streed, Tim Hammer, and more.

Contestants get just five minutes, which keeps the show moving nicely. They are judged on originality, ttage presence, delivery & timing, audience response and overall.

At first glance the schedule looks more like a clusterfuck. Venues are spread out all over in unfamiliar, sometimes far out locales. The range, says Bruhn, is purposeful, and the goal is two-fold:

First, organizers want to spread their net widely as possible, hoping to share Portland's talent and open new markets. Second—and perhaps more importantly—judges want to observe the comics before a variety of audiences, not just hipster, left-leaning inner-Portland.

It's important, Bruhn says, to be comfortable playing all kinds of rooms—and after 20-odd years of touring he should know. Winning the contest back in 1991, Bruhn says, is what originally got him on the road. A significant part of Bruhn's work with the competition is a desire to simply to help the aspiring comics get better.

The contest has been running sporadically since the 80's. This year's edition is the first since 2006. Former winners include Gabe Dinger, and the tremendous Don Frost, who dropped in to close the Monday's show with a blistering off-the-cuff set. I'll be checking in sporadically and following along until the final show on June 4th.

More info is available at the Contest's Facebook page.