6/19/2009 9:11:00 AM Comedy festival's producers want to keep growing event
DARIN EPPERLY/DAILY NEWSDAVID TOCHTERMAN (left) of Los Angeles, who has worked on such TV programs as “That 70s Show” and “The Cosby Show,” visits with comedian Tom Cotter backstage Thursday at the Johnny Carson Theatre. Tochterman is co-executive producer of this year’s “Great American Comedy Festival” and seeks to increase the visibility of the festival.
Lineup set for finals of stand-up competition
Now it's time for some serious comedy.
With the completion of Thursday evening's final two preliminary rounds of stand-up competition, the Great American Comedy Festival has its final field of eight comics.
They're scheduled to perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Johnny Carson Theatre at a show hosted by Eddie Brill, executive producer of the festival and talent coordinator for "Late Night with David Letterman."
At stake is a $5,000 first prize for the comedian who most impresses the competitions three judges - veteran comedian David Brenner, who will headline the festival's Saturday gala at 7 p.m.; comedian, entertainer, writer and producer Bill Dana, who will receive the festival's Comedy Legend award Saturday; and Wende Curtis, owner of Denver's two top comedy clubs.
Kermet Apio of Seattle and Joe Larson of New York City were the first two comics to advance from Wednesday night's early show.
They will be joined by Mike Palascak of Orland Park, Ill., Jon Fisch of New York City, Troy Baxley of Denver, Sam Adams of Denver, Tommy Johnigan of Chicago and Mike Vecchione of New York City.
Fisch was the comedian who wasn't able to take the stage Wednesday evening because of the tornado warning that sounded. Adams was the winner of Tuesday evening's amateur competition, which qualified him for the professional competition Wednesday and Thursday.
"There were several more who I thought were worthy of advancing to the finals. It was a very strong lineup," Wende Curtis said Thursday night.
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It's the students' turn
The 11 students who are participating in this week's youth comedy camp as part of the comedy festival will have their turn to perform on Saturday.
At 4:30 p.m. in the Cox Activities Center theater on the Northeast Community College campus - just 30 minutes after the question-and-answer session with Bill Dana and Eddie Brill concludes - will be the festival's youth showcase.
The hour-long performance will feature work developed during the week by the students and their instructors from the San Francisco Comedy College and Second City in Los Angeles.
It seems silly, but Norfolk might someday be mentioned in the same breath as Montreal and Las Vegas as cities with nationally known comedy festivals.
OK, go ahead and laugh.
In fact, David Tochterman of Los Angeles would just as soon have all of Northeast Nebraska and beyond laughing - once they have attended the Great American Comedy Festival taking place at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Norfolk.
Tochterman is serving as co-executive producer of this year's festival. One of his ideas is to take video clips of the comedians from the festival and distribute them on the Internet.
"By doing so, I hope to be able to brand the festival in a bigger way so that it can take its place along side the bigger, more established comedy festivals," he said.
A well-known festival in Aspen, Colo., is no longer operating, so there is a place for a newer festival to step in, Tochterman said.
The Las Vegas comedy festival has grown in stature in recent years, but that festival has focused more on established stars and television, he said. By focusing on rising stars, there's a possibility for the Norfolk festival to have a much bigger profile, he said.
The Great American Comedy Festival is currently like how many of the top comedy festivals got started - with new talent and "the purity of comedy," Tochterman said.
Tochterman was recruited to help produce the festival by Eddie Brill, who is co-producing this year's event. Brill is a comedian and the talent coordinator of "Late Night with David Letterman."
"Eddie has a great eye for talent," Tochterman said.
As the co-directors, Brill and Tochterman help to organize the event and make the set of the Johnny Carson Theatre appealing and inviting. Tochterman is also making sure the comedians get recorded properly on video for distribution.
Tochterman's resume includes working on such TV shows as "That 70s Show," "Third Rock From the Sun," "Roseanne," "The Cosby Show" and "Grace Under Fire."
"That's where I met all the comedians," he said. "I got very plugged into that community."
These days, Tochterman produces television and film, but he also is involved in the emergence of digital media.
There are many comedy Web sites, such as comedy.com or rooftopcomedy.com, that license the type of content seen at the Norfolk festival. Often times, comedians develop followings from the Internet.
"Every comedian these days has a Web site and is in touch with their fans through social media," Tochterman said. "People who follow comedians know everything they do."
Tochterman said the Norfolk festival has gotten off to a great start in just two years.
"You've got the Carson legacy here to build on," he said. "Last year we got Robert Klein. This year we've got David Brenner. Really, it's just a matter of keep on doing it and making it bigger and better every year."
Sarah Baker, media relations coordinator with the Nebraska Division of Travel & Tourism, said the Great American Comedy Festival is off to a good start and should continue to grow.
"Having the Johnny Carson name involved instantly gives it credibility," Baker said. "It's also a natural because Carson is so associated with the Nebraska people and they still think of him."
The comedy festival also should have interest beyond Nebraska, she said.
"Comedy is also something that people are really into and something that is entertaining," Baker said. "Coupling those things (Carson and a comedy festival) together makes a lot of sense."
Tochterman said the Norfolk festival just needs to keep increasing its visibility and making people laugh.
So does Norfolk's location away from a major city hurt its chances of becoming a nationally known festival?
"Time will tell if it will be a challenge," he said. "I don't know, but I honestly don't see any reason why Norfolk can't be (a major festival). You got a fantastic facility. That theater is a professional theater. The hardest part will be if you can get an audience from outside of Norfolk and Omaha."
