Comedian Hits 'Pot

BOSTON--A second-year student at the Harvard School of Public Health came up a few laughs short Wednesday night in the finals of the inaugural Beanpot Laugh-In Championship.

Chris D. Wanjeck--the only Harvard student to make the final round of comedy competition--lost in his bid to out-joke eight other local students, despite an attempt to bribe the judges with homemade brownies.

Wanjeck said he felt good about his performance.

"I couldn't have done any better," Wanjeck said. "There were a lot of talented people here and even though I didn't win, the judges still said that they really liked my act."

Wanjeck was right. His routine--which featured jokes about bumper stickers and stupid commercials--did catch the attention of two judges, the comedy team of Steve Caito and Tom Morin. The two invited Wanjeck to open for one of their shows at the Comedy Connection in Boston.

Wanjeck, who developed his act while attending Temple University, said there aren't as many students involved in comedy in the Boston area as there were in Philadelphia.

"There were only ten of us in the Harvard competition and the others mostly did improv," said Wanjeck. "I can't say the competition there was really tough."

Nick's Comedy Stop held preliminary competitions last month to select a finalist from each of eight local universities.

Finalists performed five-minute routines and were judged on "comedic talent," originality, stage presence and audience appeal.

The winner, Emerson College sophomore Julie Goldman, earned a $1000 prize and a guaranteed one week stint at the comedy club.

"It felt so exhilarating to win," Goldman said. "I felt very confident going in to the competition, but there were a lot of funny people up there and I didn't know what to expect."