IU grad wins Bloomington Comedy Festival

Recent IU graduate Jamison Raymond won the fourth-annual Bloomington Comedy Festival on Wednesday at a sold-out Comedy Attic show.

Technically a contest, the festival began July 25 with 40 contestants. Raymond beat two-time winner Tom Brady and 2010 winner Joshua Murphy for the title of “funniest person in Bloomington.”

Comedy Attic owner Jared Thompson said nine of the 11 festival shows were sold out, with the other two shows a few seats shy of the same.

Thompson said festival shows in years past usually sold out as well.

“From the very start, there was a lot of attention paid to the festival,” Thompson said. “You feel like you’re part of the show.”

Audience members received ballots at the start of the show with the names of the three contestants.

Brady, Murphy and Raymond each performed a 15-minute stand-up routine. The comedians joked about everything from depression and sexuality to commercials on the History Channel and buying cars.

At the end of Raymond’s set, the last of the night, the wait staff collected ballots.

Thompson said the festival was originally conceived as a replacement for Wednesday open-mic nights when IU students left Bloomington for the summer.

“It was a five-second idea that I had — why don’t we have a summer-long competition?” Thompson said.

Each year, the winner is awarded a specially crafted trophy. At 9:40 p.m., host Brad Wilhelm unveiled this year’s trophy.

Raymond was awarded a life-size, anatomically correct Bernie, from the 1989 film “Weekend at Bernie’s.” It held a sign which read, “You may have won the fourth annual Bloomington Comedy Festival.”

“The trophy gets shittier every year,” Brady said in his routine. “Last year, it was a pizza box.”

Raymond said he was unsure how to get his trophy home, or what to do with it.

“I guess I’ll put it in my room,” Raymond said. “I’d hate to freak my roommates out.”

Unlike the trophy, Thompson said the Comedy Attic is known for its quality.

“We’re known nationally for having quite possibly the best audiences in general,” Thompson said.

He said the atmosphere is particularly laid back during the festival, and the audience arrives ready to laugh.

“They understand that everyone is on the same level,” Thompson said. “They’re willing to cut loose at the beginning of the show.”

The audience for the final show consisted mostly of Comedy Attic regulars, Thompson said.

“There’s no place in the country that is this cool to do comedy,” Raymond told the audience. “This club has literally made my dreams come true.”