Just got an email from someone who was at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival who described this year’s fest as “The most disorganized cluster fuck of all time.”

Contests had, on the average, twenty or fewer audience members not counting the comics. (This includes the Comedy Club and Mainstream Picks.)

Contests weren’t even open to the public (You had to have spent $495 on the whole festival). I can see how the big-ticket events like the final final show and the seminars, and the show with names would be invite-only, but the rest of them shoulda paid someone eight to ten bucks an hour to flyer the streets around the casino.

The rules, by the way, didn’t include who was judging that night, or what the categories being judged were. As of today, none us are even sure they remembered to get judges for that event. Event organizers were in the room but seemed occupied with festival matters. The other LVCF staff members I saw that night were helping with the order, running the light or helping backstage. There was no judges “table” that I was aware of.

The Boston Comedy Auditions were supposed to be an open call to anyone in the Royal Flush (as it says on the website). They decided– the morning of– to post a list of the comics that were “invited” to it. But the list had 15 comics, and only 9 went up, because no one bothered to tell them. One comic had to drive back to his hotel and change just to make it in time.

The contest was in the middle of the day for one– yes, that’s one– audience member, plus the other eight comics. Poor Rick Corso had to host. Props to Jim McCue, for making the best out of bad situation, and to Corso, for making it fun, and to the comics who sat and supported each other in an environment where they could have turned against each other.

Winners of the Royal Flush, Mainstream, and Comedy Club categories weren’t even told that night if they had won that evening’s competition. So, if you were an audience member, it was kind of a rip to see a contest and not know the winner. Contestants had to go up to the office in the hotel the next day to see who won. Pretty fucking lame. Again it also takes away from some of the validity of judging. Also, you had to stay an extra night in Vegas (and get another night’s hotel room, etc.) just to see if you were still in the contest. Remember, that in these categories are 15-20 year comics like (Steve) Mcgrew, Dwight Slade, Uncle Lar (Larry Reeb), Peter Berman and Rocky Laporte.

Speaking of which, they had a “warmup” round of those contests the night before in one of the conference rooms upstairs at the hotel. Some of the aforementioned comics refused to go up. One comic I know said he might have gone up and been a “team player” had someone from the Festival at least acknowledged that it sucked, apologized for no crowd, and asked nicely. Instead they looked at him funny when he said he’d pass on the warmup.

I guess at the end of the day, I think of the Boston Festival– which is two guys running it out of their apartments– and what a great festival that is, and then I think of the LVCF– which is in VEGAS, where all they do is conventions and festivals and have access to a lot of people that could help them make it kick ass– and it totally sucked.

Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE put the word out. Your article last year let a lot of us know the LVCF was fucked, but I guess some of us figured maybe they’d get their shit together in another year. Because the word was that the first year producers were out, and maybe these new guys might have been off to a bad start in 2003, or whatever… The point is….

There is NO WAY I would participate in it again. If any comics ask and are thinking about going next year, I will tell all comics I know not to bother, and how it has consistently sucked.

PS: The one thing I would want to be sure to include is what a good job the Boston Fest guys do.

There it is. An unsolicited email from a Fest participant. We have no reason to doubt its authenticity. And we have every reason to believe it– considering the source and considering our experience last year!