Laugh, and the world laughs with you...
It's all our son's fault. He took a stand-up comedy course at Scottsdale Community College, under Dee Ann Kinkade, and enjoyed it tremendously. However, after the showcase at the end of the show, he discovered a tremendous lack of opportunities for up-and-coming comedians to practice in front of a live audience, and hone their craft. There were, basically, only two professional clubs in Phoenix, and stage time at those was extremely limited.
Hence, Comedy SlamFest was born. This was a comedy contest, that offered comedians stage time, without the requirement that they must bring audience members often found elsewhere. Indeed, we encouraged comics to come to the event; they were admitted free, and much networking, etc. ensued, helping lead to the creation of many other comedy events throughout the valley. The contest, meanwhile, consisted of ten weeks of heats, with the winners going through to the Grand Final, where the best comics from Arizona and beyond faced each other for a large cash prize.
It was a roaring success, with any number of memorable moments (good, bad and ugly!), and ran for four seasons at The Sets in Tempe, from June 2004. The winners of the events were, in order: James Hoenscheidt, Tony Stirpe, Steve Krause and Kass McPherson, all amazing performers. But over the course of SlamFest, we realised there was a deep well of comedic talent in the valley.
SlamFest came to the natural end of its life in mid-2005, but that did not signal the end of our involvement in the comedy community. We also ran a series of shows at the Mazatzal Casino in Payson, staged an ongoing open-mic event at the late, lamented Cluzoz bar in North Phoenix, and continue to put on events valley-wide which feature our comedians, belly dancers, bands and freak show performers.
We also have a large roster of performers available for hire at private events, such as weddings, corporate parties, etc. With several hundred names in our database, we can find the perfect artiste, whatever your needs, tastes and requirements.
Comedy Gold
Comedians Robert Fata and James Hoenscheidt