Apio named winner of Great American Comedy Festival

Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News

Kermet Apio's name sticks out, but it was his performance at the Great American Comedy Festival comedy finals that made the judges take notice.

Apio won the second annual standup competition on Friday night after giving an 8-minute performance that included his take on his Hawaiian heritage, his unique name and fatherhood.

"That was my whole setlist - telling (the audience) the story of my life in seven and a half minutes," Apio said.

The Seattle resident said he was so impressed by the field of comics he was in competition with, he had no sense he would win.

"It's an amazing surprise. I was just happy to be in the final show; you can't imagine what this means to me," Apio said.

In fact, Apio said he was so surprised to have won, he hadn't even given much consideration to how he would spend his $5,000 winnings. He had, however, thought a lot about his gig in Norfolk and what it meant to perform in Johnny Carson's hometown.

"It's unbelievable how nice the people are here; that's the main thing - just how kind and how genuine the folks are here," Apio said. "And performing in Johnny Carson's hometown is huge. I'm 41, so I'm at an age that Johnny Carson was a really big influence."

One of the biggest highlights of his time in Norfolk this week was visiting the Johnny Carson exhibit at the Elkhorn Valley Museum and laughing at clips of "The Tonight Show" with the other comedians, he said.

Apio said he quit his day job for a career in comedy close to 20 years ago.

"I never thought comedy would last long. I thought it would be about two years and then I would grow up and become an adult," Apio joked.

Winning the Great American Comedy Festival's stand-up competition is one of the only major competitions Apio has won.

"Years ago, I won the Seattle Comedy Competition, and that was a big deal. But this is just it. Because this is national; this is comedians from all over the country," Apio said.

The diverse group of performers gave Apio stiff competition and judge Bill Dana said choosing a winner was difficult.

"It's not fun being judgmental about anything . . . but I guess I've been in comedy long enough to know what works and what doesn't," the longtime comedian, writer and producer said. "What made it difficult tonight was everybody was pretty much on an equal par. I didn't see anybody who wasn't totally professional, totally prepared, have a stage presence."

Dana said Apio was a deserving winner and foresees an exciting career.

"I think he's going to do real well. . . . When he becomes a major star, (he can) use me in one of his movies," Dana joked.

Fellow judge Wende Curtis agreed that Apio was deserving of the top prize, but she also said picking a winner was difficult.

"It's been tough; it's all been very, very good and really hard to differentiate," Curtis said. "We had a really great group."

Winner second place was Sam Adams of Denver, who advanced after winning Tuesday evening's amateur competition. Now he's $3,000 richer.

Adams worked full time as a sports writer and columnist in Denver and only performed stand-up comedy on an occasional basis until earlier this year when the Rocky Mountain News closed and he lost his newspaper job.

He decided to try his hand at comedy full time, especially after gaining some advice from Bill Cosby.

"I felt like I was 3 years old. He did all the talking. . . . He said, 'You're not too old, I don't know you, but you're not too old.' And that was all that was stopping me," Adams said.

Joe Larson, who won third place, said the greatest thing about being in the festival was working with some of his favorite comics.

"I really couldn't have seen a better lineup. I'm so happy to be a part of it," Larson said.