Best of The San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition

The San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition is bringing some standout talent from the competition and one winner of the Seattle International Comedy Competition for a hilarious evening of comedy.

Kira Soltanovich

Kira Soltanovich, a standout from the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition, delivers bold, unfiltered comedy with razor-sharp timing. Known as the voice of the photo booth on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, she’s also starred in Here Comes Trouble and You Did This To Me.

A writer for comedy greats like Wanda Sykes and Joan Rivers, Kira brings fearless crowd work, hilarious stories, and unstoppable energy to the stage. Get ready to laugh nonstop.

Kermet Apio

Kermet Apio was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved to Seattle, Washington to attend college. He has lived there ever since. Comedy began for Kermet at an open mike night in Seattle in 1989. Nearly two years later, he decided to make the leap to full time comedy. Since then he has performed in 47 US states, 7 Canadian provinces, as well as Hong Kong, Israel, and Pakistan. He has also entertained at military bases in Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan, and across the US.

He is a past winner of the Seattle International Comedy Competition and has appeared on television shows such as “Star Search”, “Evening at the Improv” and “Comedy Showcase with Louie Anderson.” He has his own special on Dry Bar Comedy and can be heard regularly on Sirius/XM satellite radio. He is a past winner of both the Seattle Comedy Competition and the Great American Comedy Festival. He has showcased at comedy festivals in Aspen, Vancouver, Grand Rapids, Boise and Las Vegas. 

Dauood Naimyar

Born with a foreign name in an American country (America), Dauood Muhammad Naimyar learned the value of assimilating at a very young age. Because of this, he tried his best to not be different but failed at every encounter. Once he embraced his eccentric point of view, he saw the humor all around him. Dauood’s comedic perspective is shaped by the duality of his constant need to fit in, and his relentless desire to be different. His search for being relatable yet controversial has brought audiences joy for nine years–and will probably continue until he finally figures out who he is. We hope he doesn’t, ‘cause bills need to be paid.

Jon Gabrielli

Jon Gabrielli is one of the top rising comedians in California. Cementing himself as a Norcal favorite, he performs regularly at major comedy clubs, theaters, colleges, breweries, wineries, casinos and more all over the country. Jon opens for names like Tim Dillon, Matt McCusker, TJ Miller, Pablo Francisco and many more, was in the featured film “Track Shack” at the Sundance Film Festival and was a semi-finalist in the 2025 San Francisco International Comedy Competition. His comedy is interactive and creative, he takes audiences on journeys through his mischievous outlook on the events in his life.