MAIN – WSOC Showcase Rules

Official Rules for running a One Night Event

1. All contestants in your ONE contest must register on The World Series of Comedy website.

2. All contestants in your ONE contest must pay the $60 registration fee for The Main Event and use your registration code for your ONE contest for you to get credit for that comic.

3. All contestants must be at least 21 years of age. Any contestant found to be under 21 could be disqualified at our discretion. 

4. Every contestant is required to submit a YouTube or Vimeo video online, either when they register or after your ONE contest. Their video will not be accepted any other way.

5. Your ONE contest sign up fee will not be refunded for any reason. This fee will be use for website setup and other work that will be done on our end to make sure your ONE contest runs as smooth as it can.

6. Your ONE contest qualifies when you reach 6 comic registrations that used your ONE contest code. When this happens you will  be able to send the winer of your ONE contest to the Satellite you are holding the ONE contest for.

7. When you reach 6 comic registrations that used your ONE contest code you will unlock a cash payback level. At 10 comic registrations that use your ONE contest code will unlock another cash payback level. At 15 comic registrations that use your ONE contest code will unlock another cash payback level.  The level of cash paid back is determined by the level of the sign up fee you paid when you signed up your ONE contest.

8. You will also receive a free $60 registration for The World Series of Comedy. This can be used by you or can be transferred to someone else who has not already paid a registration. The level when the free registration is given is determined by the level of the sign up fee you paid when you signed up your ONE contest.

9. If you reach 16 comic registrations with your ONE contest code you will be able to send your 1st & 2nd place comics to the Satellite you are holding the ONE contest for.

10. All money will be paid out via PayPal. It will be paid out as soon as you hit 16 comic registrations with your ONE contest code or you ONE contest happens. No checks or cash will be given out as payment.

11. Your free registration for The World Series of Comedy info. This is not a guaranteed spot, it’s just a free registration. If you are a comic and plan to use this, you will still need to submit a video to get picked for a Satellite or The Main Event. If you are a club, you may give the free registration to a comic who has not yet registered. We will not refund any registration fees to any comics who have already registered. That comic will have to follow all of the same rules as any other comic registering for The Main Event.

12. At least 6 comics must register on The World Series of Comedy website and use your ONE contest code on the registration form for your contest to qualify. If you do not get 6 comics to register for your ONE Contest, your contest will not qualify and your winner will not win a spot in the Satellite. If your ONE Contest does not qualify, we will email the comics who picked your ONE Contest and let them know they are still register for the Satellite and for The Main Event. They will be advised of your contest not qualifying and therefore no one from your contest will be moving on.

13. The Winner of your qualifying ONE contest gets a guaranteed spot to perform in the Satellite that you pick on the registration form. The Winner of your qualifying ONE contest must still submit a video for our review. They are guaranteed the spot, but the video will tell us where to place them in the Satellite. If their video score is high enough, they will be placed in the second round. If their video score is not high enough or if they do not give us a video by the video due date, they will be placed in the Wildcard show.

14. You cannot perform in or win your own ONE contest.

15.You will be docked $10 off of any money you may have earned for every comic that doesn’t get us a YouTube Video link before registration closes for the Satellite. This is how important a video link is. We do not want to do this we want to pay you we just need your help getting the comics to submit a video.You will encourage and help the comics in your ONE contest to video themselves performing, then urge them to submit the video online if they haven’t already submitted one. This will give them another chance to get picked for the Satellite they chose.

16. You will be emailed a link to a google doc. On this google doc you will be able to keep track of registrations. There are also other tabs on this google doc that can be used to help you run your ONE contest.

17. You will receive the link to your google doc this will man that your comic code is live and able to be used by comics to register for your ONE contest.

18. We would like you to send an email to each comic who has picked your ONE contest. Contact the comic as fast as you can. We have found that if you respond in a timely manner, everything will run smoother for you and for us. In your response, let the comic know when, where, and what time they should be there to perform. If they do not show up, it is not your job to chase them. As long as they used your ONE contest code you will get credit for them.

19. It is your job to email us as soon as your ONE contest ends to tell us who the winner is.

20. Comics can only compete in a single ONE. If a comic wants to compete in more than ONE they would have to register for The World Series of Comedy again and pay the registration fee.

21. When you register to be a ONE contest, you have the right to use The World Series of Comedy logo and all web graphics we will provide for your use. We will give you any support we can. We want to help you have the best ONE contest you can. If we do not like how we are being represented by you, we have the right to cancel your ONE contest at any time. We also have the right to have you remove any artwork that we feel does not show The World Series of Comedy at its best.

22. You do not have to follow the judging rules here, but you do agree to run a fair contest and give us your funniest comic, not the comic who brings the most people. The rules listed here are how we judge the videos and how the comics are judged at the Satellites and The Main Event. If you follow the same rules for your ONE contest, your winner has a better chance of moving on.

We have three judges grading each contestant on the following three categories:

A. 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.

B. Stage Presence (10 points) – Here, the judges will decide how comfortable you seemed onstage.  Did you address the entire audience?  Were you looking up at the ceiling or down at the floor the whole time?

C. 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. 

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.
 
Audience Voting – Every audience member will be able to vote for each comic. An easy way for you to do this is go to https://www.livevotingapp.com/index. 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. If there is ever a problem with audience voting, it is taken out and not counted. If there is a tie, the audience vote is taken out.
23. Each contestant in your ONE contest 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 unless The Main Event of The World Series of Comedy is cancelled. If The Main Event date is moved, no refunds will be given. If a Satellite or ONE contest gets cancelled or moved, no refunds will be given for any reason. When comics register, they are registering for The Main Event.
 
24. The Winner of your ONE contest must read and follow the same rules as the other comics in the Satellite. Once the names are posted on the website, they will have 3 to 4 days to confirm their spot in the contest for the Satellites. Failing to confirm means their spot will be given to the next comic in line to move up. If they lose their spot because they did not follow directions, no special treatment will be made for your winner.
 
25. Contestants’ names will be placed in a hat and picked to determine what night and what order they will perform in the Satellite contest. This will be done before the list of contestants who have made it is posted on the website.
 
26. Decisions of The World Series of Comedy are final. Any contestant or ONE contest producer who attempts to argue with the staff of The World Series of Comedy may be disqualified.
 
27. 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 contest.  Furthermore, contestants and ONE contest producers agree 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 other sponsors in connection with the contest.

E-mail or call Bobbi Roberts at [email protected] or 501 250-3741 if you have any problems or need any questions answered.