30th Annual Seattle International Stand Up Comedy Competition

See the grand finale of this touring comedy festival-slash-elimination contest, now in its 30th year.

Hundreds of comedians audition each year to compete; only thirty-two are chosen to compete. Comics from Chicago, Boston, New York and Canada will be participating, as well as performers from the Northwest's hot comedy scene.

The Seattle Comedy Competition began in 1980; the winner that first year, David Silverman, has gone on to a long successful theatrical career as not only a comedian, but an actor, singer, dancer, and director as well. Silverman has just been announced as the guest producer of a comedy cabaret series at Seattle's Town Hall.

In years to come, many more talented comedians would emerge from the rounds of the Seattle Comedy Competition.

One of the hottest comics in the country, Patton Oswalt, the voice of "Ratatouille" in the hit film, is a former finalist; his "Comedians of Comedy " partner Brian Posehn participated as well.

1997 winner, the amazingly funny Mitch Hedberg, "the Kurt Cobain of comedy," was one of the most popular comedians in the US when he tragically passed away last year at the age of 37.

1992 Comedy Champ Bill Radke went on to become host of National Public Radio's acclaimed satire program Rewind, and is now host of "Weekend America" on NPR.

1985 winner, and the only woman ever to take the top spot Peggy Platt starred in Rocky Horror Show at the 5th Avene Theater and is a comedy and theater icon in the Pacific Northwest; although Aisha Tyler, former host of E! Network's Talk Soup and Friends regular, and star of the TV show "The Ghost Whisperer," did make the finals several years ago. And 3'11" former finalist Tanya Lee Davis has made numerous TV appearances, including several this past year on the Maury Povich show, and was the hit of the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Speaking of Edinburgh, former winners David Crowe and Dwight Slade have appeared in the last couple of years, where Slade inspired a rave review in The Scotsman from no less a personage than Scotland's Minister of Culture.

Other participants over the years include the likes of Seattle TV stars John Keister, Bill Nye The Science Guy and Ross Shafer.