Chicago man wins top amateur prize

Prashanth Venkat, a 23-year-old college graduate from Chicago, won the top prize — $500, a trophy and a consultation with Eddie Brill, comedy talent coordinator for David Letterman.

Venkat cracked jokes about living at home with his parents (because he “has that kind of money”).

Venkat qualified for the competition here in Norfolk during preliminaries in March.

He knew a lot of other comedians from Chicago who have been to Norfolk’s festival, and he thought he’d give it a shot.

“By no means did I think I’d actually win the competition,” Venkat said.

Back in Chicago, Venkat is an IT consultant by day and a comedian by night. He recently graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in molecular and cellular biology.

Since graduating, he’s had a lot of free time. He’s been on stage 150 to 200 times this year, he said.

He’s been doing standup comedy since he was 17. His first performance took place in his basement in front of all his high school buddies.

“Growing up, I always wanted to do something in the performing arts, but I was too scared,” Venkat said. “My friends were the ones who pushed me to do standup.”

Venkat is trying to get involved with the college circuit of comedy — after all, a lot of college-age people could probably relate to living at home with quirky and sometimes annoying parents.
In the future, he hopes to break into acting in Los Angeles or New York City. Before college, he attended an acting school in New York City.

Venkat’s competition included Austin Anderson, Sam Cameron and Pat Neary of Omaha, as well as Leif Cedar, Frank Schuchat and Elliot Woolsey of Denver. Also traveling from Colorado to compete were Vinnie Montez of Boulder and Talon Saucerman of Aurora. Steven Poggi came all the way from St. Louis, and Venkat was the only one from Chicago.

For some, it was their first time at the comedy festival, and others were returnees.

Each gave a one-of-a-kind performance. Jokes about fanny packs to wives to Nebraska’s very own community of Lyons made the audience roar with laughter. Saucerman, who finished second in the competition, even donned a turban, re-creating Johnny Carson’s signature “Carnac the Magnificent” act.

After the winner was announced, there were no sore losers back stage. The contestants gathered for a group picture and congratulated Venkat on the win.