How Quickly They Forget

Funny how a four and a half hour drive from The City to Arroyo Grande can pass so quickly with so much talk in the car driving south thru Steinbeck Country. And what a treat to spy past champ Auggie Smith in the hotel bar getting primed to host the last two nights.

Auggie is one of the best, continuing to create amazing new material based on his absurd observations into what might seem on the surface an unusually normal life for a comedian. He’s won both the San Francisco and our sister Seattle Comedy Competitions. He’s hosted the event on many occasions since. One would think he’d remember the important Encore Point. But no . . .

Having forgotten to assess it for the first contestant, he was forced to indicate its award thereafter with a mere nod of the head, a mannerism somewhat akin to a mob boss conveying “you’ll live” to a potential victim.

Fortunately, Auggie more than made up for his miscue with hilarious fresh material that had the audience rocking. Shawn Felipe rocked ‘em, too, recovering from Sac State to take first place for the night. It’s going to come down to the wire on the last night.

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