We're in the Money
By Rich Freedman

      Kevin Pollak placed second. So did Ellen DeGeneres, Dane Cook and the long time king of San Francisco comedy, Robin Williams.
      Tom Simmons knew the history. It was no shame to be runner-up in the 34th Annual San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition. First place, however, not only sounded better but at $7,500, the check for winning was nearly twice as big as the one for coming in second.
      So the stand-up from Greensboro, N.C. with 15 years performance experience under his belt was more than thrilled when he edged Los Angeles veteran and past winner Danny Bevins for the title. Simmons and Bevins were consistently in the first three show after show (with occasion interruptions by upstart Jarrod Harris) in the 20-performance event and it was a race to the end.
      When host Jack Gallagher broke the news in front of a sold-out last-night crowd at Cache Creek Casino in the remote town of Brooks -- about an hour and a half northwest of San Francisco -- "I was relieved and excited," Simmons deadpanned. "I knew whichever of us came out in front on the last night was going to come out in front overall.

Standing left to right are Danny Bevins from Los Angeles, Jarrod Harris from Atlanta, Tom Simmons from Los Angeles and Maureen Langan from New York City. Seated is Rodger Lizaola from Seattle.

      “I had gone first and had a good set but felt like his set was incredible and connected. I gotta be honest; I thought he caught me. So, when I realized I was the winner I was thrilled and at the same time felt bad for my friend."
      After getting home two days later, Simmons said he was confident throughout the event but wary of judges who may have been swayed by Bevins' hard-edged comedy vs. Simmons' take on family life.
      "I wasn't sure," the winner said. "I had been paying attention to the numbers and now I was in great shape because I had been consistent all week. I knew if I went on stage and performed the jokes with everything I had that I would be hard to beat...so I just rehearsed and tweaked the set, tightening it and then tried to go on and perform. After the set, waiting for everyone else to finish was hard."
      Producer Jon Fox wasn't surprised Simmons emerged victorious.
      “Most people relate to his common themes of childbirth and child raising, but he presents his stuff with so many different takes and such a pleasing persona, the audience becomes spellbound."
      The entire competition takes the contestants on a 3,000-mile jaunt throughout Northern California with brief touchdowns in Nevada and, for the first time ever this year, Oregon.
      "From the beginning, we've been determined to take stand-up comedy to places where it's seldom seen. In a way, it's missionary work," Fox said. "And the talent this year was exceptional."
      Though the semi-finals were tough, "the finals week was the most grueling. I think there was the most driving to do, plus each night was different," Simmons said. "A neighborhood bar, a vets center, a ball room at a college, a 'clean' night, and the final night in a casino. I had to do a lot of prep work during the day to get ready. The college show had to be about 80 percent different, theclean set had to be rehearsed and words replaced... just working to make the right choices in material, and doing what it takes to be ready to perform it solidly was hard to do every night when you combine that with long drives."

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Great Dane took a bite out of the Competition in 1995

Dane Cook battled it out with Doug Stanhope in one of the best competitions ever
Staff report

Dane Cook isn’t everywhere. It just seems that way. The San Francisco International Comedy Competition alumni starred in three movies this year, was included in People magazine’s sexiest man alive issue and appeared in an omnipresent Major League Baseball advertising campaign.

Oh, and his comedy career is doing just fine, too. He released his third album, which quickly joined the other two in the top five comedy albums on iTunes. Rough Around the Edges, the latest CD/DVD, sold 92,000 copies in the first six days and is also the name of the national tour he is wrapping up to end the year. At the end of the 25-city tour, Cook estimates that he will have performed for 350,000 fans at sold out arenas across North America.

“Almost every one of these arenas comes up and says to me ‘we can’t believe that a comedian is doing this.’ They might be a little understaffed and maybe not prepared for the juggernaut,” Cook said in a recorded phone message to his fans on his website, danecook.com. “It’s not always understood that it’s going to be a rock-n-roll atmosphere at a comedy show.”

It’s something that those who watched the 1995 Comedy Competition might have an easier time understanding. In one of the most talent-rich exhibitions in the competition’s 30-year history, Cook stormed into the 1995 finals. Most nights, according to Producer Jon Fox, the stage wasn’t big enough to contain his high-energy act.

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