BRISTOL – Syracuse comedy improv troupe Main On Main will compete in Saturday’s Comedy Criminals Improv Festival finals after advancing from the preliminary rounds last weekend. The two-weekend comedy improv event started Saturday at the Elkhart Civic Theatre at The Bristol Opera House. Eight teams from Indiana, Ohio and Illinois were scheduled to compete. The first-ever event was a fundraiser for the theater, and the preliminary round was sold out. In the comedy improv competition Saturday, four teams competed in each of the two rounds. Two teams from each round advanced to the finals. Audience members voted on which teams advanced. Every person with a ticket got two votes. Additional votes could be bought by purchasing pizza slices or drinks. At Saturday’s finals, winners will be determined by celebrity judges. Celebrity judges include Chicago Comedy Film Festival founder Jessica Hardy, WNIT-TV personality Gordy Young and Elkhart Truth Managing Editor Marshall King. Competing in the first round were Disposable Theatre, Chesterton; Main on Main; Sheboygan, Chicago; and The Executive Branch, Chicago. After votes were tallied, Disposable Theatre was the clear winner, with Sheboygan second, Main On Main third and The Executive Branch fourth. Since Disposable Theatre can not make Saturday’s finals because of a prior commitment, Sheboygan and Main On Main advance. “For our first year of doing it, we did decent. There’s room for improvement,” Dustin Wolfe, Main On Main, said. Main On Main’s Todd Lucas said, “It was a great experience, great audience. A lot of energy.” He said it was the biggest audience Main On Main has ever played for, and it was a lot of fun. Ian Crighton agreed that Main On Main had a lot of fun. Since the actors were all backstage, Crighton said they didn’t get to see how each other performed, but winning wasn’t the important thing. “The important thing was making live theater for the area. It’s a great thing for this area,” he said. For round two, Limaland Comedy, from Lima, Ohio, failed to show. DT2, Chesteron, was the second Disposable Theatre troupe to perform during the night, and also are not able to return for the finals due to a prior commitment. That left Funraisers Inc., Granger, and ComedySportz, Indianapolis, to move on to the finals. Winners of Saturday’s finals earn the title of Comedy Criminals of the Year, plus free stage time provided by The Drop Comedy Club in South Bend. Beer, wine and food are available for the events. Tickets are $12 and if not sold out can be purchased online at www.elkhartcivictheatre.org or by calling 574-848-4116 weekdays until 5 p.m.
