‘BATTLE OF THE SEXES’
Female, male comedians to face off in stand-up competition
“Women aren’t funny.” This is a phrase female comedians are sick of hearing, and on Sept. 1, some of Albuquerque’s funniest ladies are marching forth to prove the naysayers wrong in the “First Fridays Comedy Contest: Battle of the Sexes.”
“It’s all about bragging rights,” says Rusty Rutherford, host of the event. “We’ve got some really great local comedians. The circle has increased since I started in stand-up comedy nine years ago.”
Rutherford says that each month, some of the city’s veteran and up-and-coming standup comics take the stage and sling jokes in hopes of winning the audience’s vote for that month’s funniest comedian.
Over the past year, more and more female comics have been taking the crown.
“For this show, not only will we crown the top three individual winners, but the five women and five men’s scores will be tallied together to see which sex will have the bragging rights,” he says.
The following comedians will compete: Matt Peterson, Caitlin Minton, Danger K Varoz, Mary Byrd, Keith Breckenridge, Kendra Jean, Axiao Daniels, Ann Gora, Greg Ziomek and Dawn Schary.
Rutherford says the events have been held at Tractor Brewery Wells Park for the past three years.
It’s at the venue that the audiences have begun to grow.
“We started in a hookah lounge years ago,” he says. “A lot of the comedy scene has grown. We have a lot more going on. I thought this was the best way to have the best comics on one stage.”
As the host, Rutherford says, he will be neutral.
But he will be able to put his skills to the test during breaks.
“I’m writing some new material,” he says. “One of the reasons I do comedy is to make
people’s days better. I do a variety of shows. I can be super clean with my material. There is a real skill to be a clean comic. Every subject is open game. For me, it’s about talking honest about a subject.”