Video Preview: Finalists in Portland's Funniest Person Contest, Tonight at Helium Comedy Club

Twelve finalists will compete for the title and the $1,000 grand prize.

Amy Miller is first in the lineup at tonight's Funniest Person contest.
By Rebecca Jacobson

Helium Comedy Club's annual Portland's Funniest Person contest is a strange beast.

Past winners—including Nathan Brannon, Ian Karmel and Shane Torres—are all solid standup comics, but with early rounds determined by audience vote, it's in some ways a glorified personality contest. 

But by the time comics advance to the finals—which will be held tonight at 8 pm—things have been winnowed down, resulting in a who's who of Portland comedy. Two of the finalists, Amy Miller and Bri Pruett, made WW's Funniest 5 last November (as did past winners Brannon and Torres). Here are video clips of 11 of the 12 finalists (Stephanie Purtle: why aren't you on YouTube? Seriously, Stephanie Purtle), in the order they're scheduled to appear. The winner will walk away with $1,000.

Amy Miller:


Sean Jordan:


Gabe Dinger:


Jason Traeger:



Christian Ricketts:


Anthony Lopez:




Bri Pruett:

 

Adam Pasi:


Jacob Christopher:



Steven Wilber:



Curtis Cook:


SEE IT: Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-6889. 8 pm Tuesday, July 22. $20-$27. Tickets here. 21+.

WWeek 2015

Rebecca Jacobson

Rebecca Jacobson

Rebecca Jacobson is a writer from Portland (OK, she was born in Seattle but has been in Oregon since the day after she turned 10) who's also lived in Berlin, Malawi and Rhode Island. While on staff at Willamette Week, she covered theater, film, bikes, drug dealers-turned-barbers and little-known scraps of local history.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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