2nd round of KatHouse's Last Laugh narrows field to 9

For the second straight week a group of hopeful comedians took the stage at the KatHouse Lounge. And for the second straight week several of the comedians failed to win over the audience or even capture its attention.


The comedians competed Wednesday night in the Last Laugh competition, sponsored by KatHouse, 101.5 K-Rock, and Z96.3. The competition is a last-man-standing style contest, where the winner takes home $1,000 and the right to host KatHouse's Thursday comedy nights.


Wednesday night started with 13 comedians in the competition. After each comedian performed for five minutes, a group of judges conferred and whittled the group of comedians down to nine.


"Rough crowd tonight," said J.C. King, the contest's host. "We had a lot of really funny comedians up here tonight, but I guess they didn't think they were too funny."


King said he thought the comedians deserved more respect from the crowd.


"[The comedians] have vastly improved," he said. "Every week as we narrow it down they just keep getting better and better."


Cody Detrick, who also is moving on to the next round of the competition, said he didn't mind the crowd.   

"Up front they were a little rough," he said. "I like a rough crowd  though, it helps me learn."


Detrick performed stand-up for the first time last week, and only wrote his material Wednesday morning.

"Honestly I thought I bombed completely," he said. "I appreciate the judges giving me the opportunity to move on."


Despite performing in front of an unruly and occasionally inattentive crowd some comedians were able to fill the room with laughter.

Luke Hansen, who was known on stage as simply "The Colonel," was one of the crowds favorites.


"I thought the crowd was great," he said. "They really got behind me when I was up there."


Hansen heard some of the best laughs of the night, and looks to be a favorite in the competition, despite performing comedy for the first time.


"I don't want to be cocky, but I think I have a good chance," Hansen said. "Winning would mean everything to me. It would be a real stepping stone."


The competition's first round was Oct. 29 with 17 competitors and saw four comedians eliminated. The winner of Last Laugh will be announced Nov. 19, when KatHouse hosts the final round of the competition.