We casually and unapoligetically refer to the Philadelphia comedy market as the worst comedy market in the country for its size. The city (and the Metropolitan Statistical Area that surrounds it) is regularly ranked fourth or fifth in population in the nation, yet there is not a major comedy club in the city proper. And clubs in surrounding towns are Friday/Saturday affairs, with maybe a Thursday night show.

There are a number of fine, accomplished professional comedians who persist in residing here, but the “scene” is not what it was at its peak in, say, 1990 or so, when a few comedians actually moved to the area to make a living as standup comics. And it is a known fact that Philly has burped out some fine comics over the years: Dom Irrera, David Brenner, Bill Cosby, Wayne Cotter, Bob Saget. But the city hasn’t recovered from a series of misfortunes and coincidences (and people) who have been keeping it from recovering from the bust of the early nineties like Boston and San Francisco seems to have done.

There are encouraging signs, though, as Kris Clayton over at Rascals in Cherry Hill seems to be making a giant effort to foster some sort of community. And there’s comedian Theresa Krallinger, who formed (and tirelessly administers) a Yahoo! Group called Philly Comics. And there’s now THREE clubs in Atlantic City. That’s right– Catch A Rising Star will occupy the room in Resosrts that was previously occupied by the Improv (and, before that, an ill-fated venture booked by David Glickman that boasted on billboards, “Comics straight from Florida.”). Being that A.C. is just over an hour away for many Philadelphia-based comedians, that’s a positive. And in Princeton, Catch maintains that a new club, specifically designed for comedy will be part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel there when their atrium re-do is completed. The new venue, will seat fewer patrons than the Catch that previously did business there, but it will be better in many ways, we’re assured.

And one more thing. There’s a giant, sprawling contest coming to town. An outfit calling itself Laff-A-Lot Productions is promoting a contest to find Philly’s Funniest Comic. Their website is far from completed, but this caught our eye:

For an added twist the Cymbal Manufacturer preferred by Professional Drummers all over the world ZILDJAN (sic) will be making for our use, a 48″ Cymbal fto be used as a a GONG. Remember the old Gong Show. A Guest Fashion Model can be encouraged, by the audience or the Judges to put a Comic that is Dying, out of their misery, or possibly Saving the Audience from Committing Mass Suicide.

Thus making Zildjian (correct spelling) the most hated cymbal manufacturer in the comedy community. The contest aspires to great things. An ambitious schedule, for one:

The first 6 show dates are going to be called the “Semi-Final”. They will be held on subsequent Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning on May 17, 2005, and will run for the next 3 weeks. The exact dates will be:

Tuesday May 17th Thursday May 19th

Tuesday May, 24 Thursday May 26th

Tuesday May 31 Thursday June 2nd

The thought of doing standup in front of a hot babe wielding a gong is distasteful to say the least. But has there ever been a contest that was, gong or not, dignified? Unless, of course, you are the one who wins.