Prelim 1 & 2 at the BCF

What a night.

Peter Dutton and Chance Langton advanced to the semi-finals out of the first heat. I am going to resist "rating" the comics, as I would have to throw myself in front of a train, but I will say this, Peter was brilliant as always and I thought he really deserved to move on. I thought the kid after him was great, too, and the guy after that... a couple of dudes named Chris White and Andy Hendrickson. After Dutton, I thought it was wide open, and the slot went to Boston legend Chance Langton.

The second preliminary was absolutely loaded with talent. Ira Proctor blew the friggin' roof off the joint, coming out of the hated two-hole and took one of the spots to advance to the semis. Kelly Mac drew the dreaded bullet, and did a damn good job of showing us who she is and appearing relaxed. She is such a pro that it amazes me that she isn;t plastered on the TV screen on some show. Every time I see her do a short set, I wish she was doing a half hour, I just want to see more more more of her (nothing dirty Kel...more of your ACT I mean).

The Steamy Bohemians did a terrific job, and looked totally calm throughout their set. i think it's tough to come up in the middle of a bunch of stand ups, it seemed like people weren't sure what was going on at first, but they were terrific.

This guy from NYC (called Cauvin I believe?) was in the tenth slot and did a great job, from beginning to end, and took the other slot with Ira.

My hero of the night was MYQ Kaplan, who found out he was performing yesterday afternoon when he was perusing the prelims to see who was on. Apparently he had been given a spot at the last minute and somehow had never gotten word. He did a solid job like he always does, even though the crowd was ready to leave after Cauvin set the place on fire. This kid's work ethic has long impressed me, and the fact that he threw together a damn good set with a couple of hours notice shows what a pro he is.

I am excited for tonight's prelims and totally ready to get to mine, which isn't until Thursday night. I am looking forward to the rest of the shows, but I can;t imagine a more balanced, powerful lineup than that of the second prelim.