On Wednesday, Feb. 9, Side Splitters hosts another round of the "Clash of the Comedy Titans" between Team Knoxville and Team Chattanooga.
Team Knoxville, which consists of local comedians Alex Stokes, Grady Ray, Papa J and Terry Wright, has performed twice in the intercity competitions - once against Team Nashville here at home and once in Chattanooga on their turf.
When competing in Chattanooga, Team Knoxville came up just short of the victory. "They had some of that home-cooking," Terry Wright said of losing at the Chattanooga venue. "But we're in Knoxville now."
Team Chattanooga's founder Kristine Kinsey says the last competition was extremely close. The team, which frequently features Kinsey, Corey Forrester and Chad Rosser, has only been around for a few months (much like Team Knoxville). "There was a lot of hype on Facebook about the competition between Nashville and Knoxville (in October 2010)," Kinsey says. "The winning city would get bragging rights as the funniest city in Tennessee. I thought it would only be fair for Chattanooga to get a shot at the title."
Grady Ray, who didn't perform in the last competition and was replaced with alternate Sandy Goddard, says, "I don't know much about Chattanooga, but I think it will be a good show." He says he plans to "derail the Choo-Choo" in the upcoming competition.
"In the end, they know deep down that we have a better aquarium than Chattanooga does," Alex Stokes says about Team Chattanooga. "I'm great friends with the comics from the Chattanooga team. We travel together and do shows together."
And he's not the only Knoxvillian familiar with a member of Team Chattanooga - as the team's fourth member is local radio DJ Oz Kirk, who grew up in Chattanooga.
"Oz jumped ship and is performing for them!" Grady Ray quipped.
When asked to respond to Ray's accusation, Oz laughed heartily saying, "I don't know that I jumped ship so much as swam home." Oz was asked by Side Splitters' manager Bridgette O'Dell to be a celebrity judge for the competition given his background as a radio DJ for multiple Chattanooga stations, but there was a miscommunication. Later Oz found out that Team Chattanooga had a vacancy and, somewhat as a joke, he asked if he could fill the slot and was accepted.
"My own persona in the public arena as Oz was created and cultivated in Chattanooga," Oz says. "I'm just returning to the mothership."
Team Knoxville's work might be cut out for it again, with Chattanooga's Kinsey having excelled in the field of comedy in less than a year of performing. In March 2010, Kinsey traveled to New York to audition for "Last Comic Standing." After waiting three days in line, she performed for a team of production assistants and made it past the first round, getting to perform for the celebrity judges. "I got the tiniest little speaking bit, which aired on the fourth episode of last season," she says. "I figure I still have about 14 minutes and 50 seconds left of my 15 minutes of fame, according to the scale of Warhol."
But Kinsey admits that Team Knoxville is no easy competitor.
"All the members of Team Knoxville had great sets that night," Kinsey says of the last meeting between the two teams, "but I think that most people would agree that Papa J stole the show. He was pretending so convincingly to be intoxicated that I think the audience was a little uncomfortable at first. When it became clear that it was a character performance, the audience went crazy. He sang several comedy songs that went over extremely well, partially due to his skillful guitar playing."
Kinsey adds: "I love performing in Knoxville. Audiences in Knoxville are very appreciative of live comedy."
The contest allows eight-minute sets from each performer. The sets will be interlaced with performances from a Chattanooga host and a Knoxville host. At the end of the evening, the audience will vote for the winning team. A panel of judges will vote for the best performer, who will win a guest spot at each Dale Jones performance at Side Splitters the week of March 17.
Tickets are $8 and available at the door or at http://www.sidesplitterscomedy.com.
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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