TheRules

 

The Main Event 2024

Official Rules/Release Form

RULES

1. All contestants must be at least 21 years of age. If contestant is found to be under 21 they could be disqualified at our discretion.

2. Every contestant is required to submit a YouTube or Vimeo Video online. You can also submit your premium TheComicList.com profile link. Your video will not be accepted any other way.

3. In The Main Event, each contestant will be given 5, 7,9, 10or 25  minutes of stage time. Stage time is determined by which round in the contest the comic is performing.

  • In the Satellites, each contestant will be given 7 minutes of stage time. In the second to last show with the top six comics, each contestant will be given 11 minutes of stage time. In the last show with the top three comics, each contestant will be given 25 minutes of stage time.
  • In the Wildcard shows in The Main Event and the Satellites, each contestant will be given 5 minutes of stage time.
  • Comics will be given a light from the back of the room when they have 1 minute left of stage time. This is to let them know to wrap it up. When you reach your stage time, you’ll be given the light again. This means to say “Goodnight!” and head off the stage. If you continue, not only could you be disqualified from the contest, it reflects very negatively on your professionalism to the people who book the clubs that you want to work for.
  • In the Online Showcases, each contestant’s video will be viewed for 3 minutes in the wildcard show, 4 minutes in the round 2 shows & 6 minutes in the Finale show.
  • In the Audience Choice Shows, each video will be viewed for 2 minutes.

4. The judges may deduct points from those contestants who are being too vulgar or who have gone over their stage time. You’ll do much better in the eyes of the judges, as well as the club, if you can be funny without being too dirty. Challenge yourself to write clever and clean. It’ll benefit you in the long run.

5. There will be three judges grading each contestant on the following three categories:

  • Originality (10 points) – When you’re writing, think about stuff that is personal to you. Don’t write about how old the greeters at Wal-Mart are.  Write about things that you think no other comic has written about.  And if you do use a common topic, try to present your own, different perspective on it.  And for the love of God, NEVER USE ANOTHER COMIC’S MATERIAL OR JOKES YOU’VE SEEN ON THE INTERNET. This is just about the worst mistake you can ever make.
  • Stage Presence (10 points) – Here, the judges will decide how comfortable you seemed on stage. Did you address the entire audience? Were you looking up at the ceiling or down at the floor the whole time?
  • Overall Performance (10 points) – Did the audience like you?  Were you too dirty? Did you go over your time? These are the things the judges will think about when they score you in this category.

6. This gives you a total of 30 possible points from each judge. We will take the total score for each contestant and combine it with the audience vote.

7. Audience Voting – Every audience member will be able to vote for each comic that evening. Whichever comic gets the most votes will have 5 points added to his/her final score.  The comic with the second most votes will have 4 points added to his/her final score. Third Place gets 3 points, Fourth Place gets 2 points, and Fifth Place gets 1 point added to their final score. Scoring works the same for Live shows and Online shows.

8. At each show, the contestant with the highest combined score will be the winner. In the case of a tie, the audience vote will be discarded and only the three judges’ scores will be used. If there is still a tie score for First Place, then the 3 judges will be asked to pick a winner to break the tie.

9. Each contestant will be required to pay a registration fee. This fee will go up on different dates for The Main Event and for the Satellites.  No refunds will be given. Please see our Refund Policy.

10. Registration for The Main Event will be closed on August 18. Registration for the festival will remain open until September 28. Registration for Satellites will close 20 to 30 days prior to each event. Registration for the Online Showcases will close 5 to 7 days prior to each event.

11. Contestants that have made it into the contest will have 1 to 2 days to confirm their spot in the contest for the Live Satellites and 1 to 2 days for The Main Event. Failing to confirm means that your spot is given to the next comic in line to move up. Contestants that have made it into an Online Showcase and do not have their video loaded onto their ZippyVote account in time to meet the deadline for that contest means that their spot is given to the next comic in line to move up.

12. The Main Event contest will have spots for 101 contestants. Each Live Satellite contest  and Online Showcase will have spots for 40 contestants. The first round in The Main Event, the Live Satellites, and the Online Showcases will be Wildcard shows. Contestants will be split up as evenly as possible in each show.

13. Contestants’ names will be placed in a hat and picked to determine what night and what order in the contest they will perform. This will be done before the list of contestants who have made it is posted on the website.

14. First Round: The Main Event

  • Wildcard Shows – 3 shows, 15 contestants in each show. Each contestant will be given 5 minutes of stage time. The 1st and 2nd Place contestants from each show will advance to the second round. The top two Third Place winners will also advance, for a total of 8 comics moving on to the second round.

Round 2:

  • 7 Round 2 shows, 9 contestants in each show.  The 1st & 2nd Place contestant from each show will advance to Quarter-Finals.

Quarter-Finals:

  • 2 Quarter-Finals shows – 7 contestants in this show.  The 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place contestant from both shows will advance to Semi-Finals.

Semi-Finals:

  • 1  Semi-Finals show – 6 contestants in this show.  The 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place contestant from this show will advance to Finals.

Finals:

  • 1 Finals show – The overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners will be decided.

15. First Round: Satellites

  • Contestants will be split up as evenly as possible in the Audience Choice Shows. These shows are online and voting will be done using ZippyVote. The top 5 will win spots in the corresponding Live Satellite Wildcard Show. These shows are for everyone who picked that Satellite but did not make it into the top 35.

Wildcard

  • Wednesday – 1 show, 16 contestants will perform.  The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place contestants will advance to the second round.

Round 2:

  • Thursday – 1 show, 9 contestants in the show.  The 1st and 2nd Place contestant will advance to Semi-Finals.
  • Friday – 2 shows, 9 contestants in each show.  The 1st and 2nd Place contestant from each show will advance to Semi-Finals.

Semi-Finals:

  • Saturday 1st Show – 6 contestants will perform in this show. The 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place contestant from this show will advance to Finals.

Finals:

  • Saturday 2nd Show – The overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners will be decided.

16. First Round: Online Showcases

  • Contestants will be split up as evenly as possible in the Audience Choice Shows. These shows are online and voting will be done using ZippyVote. The top 10 will win spots in the corresponding Online Showcase Wildcard Show. These shows are for everyone who picked that Online Showcase but did not make it into the top 30.

Wildcard

  • Monday – 1 show, 16 contestants will perform. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place contestants will advance to the second round.

Round 2:

  • Tuesday – 1 show, 9 contestants in the show.  The 1st and 2nd Place contestant will advance to Finals.
  • Wednesday – 1 show, 9 contestants in the show.  The 1st and 2nd Place contestant will advance to Finals.
  • Thursday – 1 show, 9 contestants in the show.  The 1st and 2nd Place contestant will advance to Finals.

Finals:

  • Friday – 1 show, the overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place winners will be decided.

17. Prizes: The Main Event

  • 1st Place – At least 30 weeks of paid feature work from the comedy clubs that are part of The World Series of Comedy.
  • 2nd Place – Working on providing as many weeks of feature work as we can get. Should be at least 5 weeks.
  • 3rd Place – Working on providing as many weeks of feature work as we can get. Should be at least 2 weeks.

18. Prizes: Satellites

  • 1st Place – Direct Entry Into the Second Round of The Main Event. Plus a paid feature week at the Satellite hosting club.
  • 2nd Place – Direct Entry Into the Wildcard Round of The Main Event.
  • 3rd Place – Direct Entry Into the Wildcard Round of The Main Event.

19. Prizes: Online Showcases

  • 1st Place – Direct Entry Into the Second Round of The Main Event. Plus we will be working on getting a paid feature week from the Comedy Club Judging the Online Showcase.
  • 2nd Place – Direct Entry Into the Wildcard Round of The Main Event.
  • 3rd Place – Direct Entry Into the Wildcard Round of The Main Event.

20. Decisions of the judges are final. Any contestant who attempts to argue with the judges or staff may be disqualified from The World Series of Comedy.

21. The World Series of Comedy and other sponsors associated with the contest will not be held responsible for any problems that arise as a result of sponsoring the contest.  Furthermore, Contestant agrees to waive and release any and all rights, claims, and causes of action whatsoever that he or she may have against The World Series of Comedy and/or other sponsors in connection with the contest.

 

REFUND POLICY

NO REFUNDS

No refunds will be given unless The Main Event of The World Series of Comedy is cancelled. If The Main Event date or location is moved, no refunds will be given. The World Series of Comedy has the right to move the date and location of The Main Event any time from January 2024 to January 2026. If a Satellite or Online Showcase gets cancelled or moved, no refunds will be given for any reason. When you registered, you registered for The Main Event for The World Series of Comedy. Every comic who is registered should plan on coming to The Main Event. You did not register for the Live Satellites or the Online Showcases. The Live Satellites and Online Showcases were offered to you when you registered as an add-on to your registration for The Main Event.

Your registration is considered complete if any or all of the criteria are met by the producers of The World Series of Comedy:

  • The Main Event is held either Live or Online (all efforts will be made by the producers of The World Series of Comedy to hold The Main Event Live during the 2024 festival season).
  • A combination of at least 3 events is held Online (this could be a combo of Live Satellites converted to Online Satellites & Online Showcases).
  • A request from the contestant for notes from your video submission for The World Series of Comedy.

WHY NO REFUNDS? – YOU MIGHT ASK…

We do not hold all registration fees until the end of the season. When you register, your registration fee is put to work to pay to produce this festival. This is a business. This business was created out of love for comedy and our want to help comics grow, but it’s still a business. As in any business, there are costs and monthly bills that must be paid. The list of what we pay with your registration fee is long, but we have provided a few items to give you an idea….

  • Video Judges
  • Online Showcase Judges
  • Host 
  • Travel
  • Website Hosting
  • Email Hosting
  • Social Media
  • Graphics
  • Equipment
  • Donuts…

 

 

RELEASE FORM

By entering into this contest, contestant agrees to authorize The World Series of Comedy to use the following personal information:

  • My picture – including photographic, motion picture, and video images.
  • My voice – including sound and video recordings.

I hereby grant to The World Series of Comedy, its subsidiaries, licensees, successors, and assigns the right to use, publish, and reproduce for all purposes my name, pictures of me in film or video form, sound and video recordings of my voice, and printed and electronic copy of the information described in sections (1) and (2) above in any and all media including, without limitation, cable and broadcast television and the Internet, and for exhibition, distribution, promotion, advertising, sale, press conferences, meetings, hearings, educational conferences, and in brochures and other print media. This permission extends to all languages, media, formats, and markets now known or hereafter devised. This permission shall  continue forever unless I revoke the permission in writing.

I further grant The World Series of Comedy all right, title, and interest that I may have in all finished pictures, negatives, reproductions, and copies of the original print, and further grant The World Series of Comedy the right to give, sell, transfer, and exhibit the print in copies or thereof, for marketing, communications, or advertising purposes as it deems fit.

I hereby waive the right to receive any payment from The World Series of Comedy. I hereby waive the use of any of the material described above for any of the purposes authorized by this release. I also waive any right to inspect or approve finished photographs, audio, video, multimedia, or advertising recordings and copy or printed matter or computer generated, scanned images and other electronic media that may be used in conjunction therewith or to approve the eventual use to which it might be applied.

I acknowledge that I have read the foregoing, and I fully understand the contents.

By entering into this contest, contestant agrees that he or she has read all the rules and terms of use and will abide by them accordingly, including the decisions of the judges relative to this contest, whose decision will be final in all respects.

E-mail or call Joe Lowers at [email protected] or 702 205-9050 if you have any problems or need any questions answered.