the comic's comic

Scenes from outside Gotham, Bryson Turner, #67 in line for auditions for NBC's Last Comic Standing

As I scanned the line outside of Gotham Comedy Club overnight, with several hours still remaining before NBC production staff for Last Comic Standing would arrive to open the doors for the "open call" auditions for season 7, I was surprised to see Bryson Turner walking toward me.

You see, the last time I was face-to-face with Turner, we were sitting in the green room of the Cap City Comedy Club, minutes after he had won the "Funniest Person in Austin" contest last May. You can see that here and now (or whenever). I wasn't expecting to see him sitting (and perhaps sometime soon, sleeping) on the sidewalk or right lane of West 23rd Street. He said he was naively aware that he could have gone about this process differently, as he watched other comedians he knew go in and out of the club Saturday afternoon, and see them see him and have that moment of surprising recognition. Could he have gotten an appointment? Perhaps. But he seemed to be OK with his plight for now. And as he told me, he already has his bags packed for Detroit, where he is headed Monday to perform in a showcase for Laugh Detroit (aka the 3rd annual Detroit Comedy Festival) hosted by Lewis Black.

So at least he has that to look forward to, no matter what happens for him today in NYC. Here is a portion of our chat from this evening outside of Gotham. Roll it!

And here is a recent clip of Turner actually performing stand-up.

Meet Bryson Turner, 2009 Funniest Person in Austin

I'm enjoying my time in Austin, Texas, and will have a full report for you soon enough. But first, here's a portion of a chat I had last night with Bryson Turner after he won the 24th annual Funniest Person in Austin contest. Each winner gets handed that cape and crown, and jokes aplenty were made about the condition of said cape and crown. Turner is a recent transplant to Austin's comedy scene -- he's from the Pittsburgh area and formed his early stand-up start in D.C. Here, let him explain how he has settled in nicely enough in Austin, and why he chose the Texas capital to grow his career as a comedian (includes a few choice words):

OK. So we won't bore you with more chitty-chat. Instead, enjoy some of Turner's comedy. The final sets from the FPIA contest aren't up yet, but here is his performance from an earlier round that covers pretty much the same ground (slightly NSFW):