How the contest works?

What is Kenan Thompson's Ultimate Comedy Experience?

It’s a nationwide search for the funniest comedians in the country, who want to take their careers to the next level. Our team has chosen several cities to find the best of the best. This season's preliminary showcases have been taking place since September 2022 and were designed to identify and highlight talent that our audiences may have never seen before. Now we have our Semi-finals taking place in select cities in front of live audiences that include agents, industry professionals and network decision makers that may be scouting fresh talent.

In the coming weeks, Kenan and team will select 4 comedians to receive The Ultimate Comedy Experience in NYC! Those selected will attend the Live SNL season finale show May 20, 2023, receive an invitation to the SNL VIP afterparty as a special guest of Kenan Thompson, and perform on the Grand Showcase at the all new Hard Rock Hotel NYC May 21, 2023. Travel & lodging will also be provided for select comedians.

An array of national comedians will be invited to perform on our Grand Showcase May 21, 2023, so there's ample opportunities this year that haven't been available before.

What is the Online "Wild Card" Round?

It’s another way to be chosen for our Ultimate Comedy Experience in NYC May 20-21, 2023. Because it would be nearly impossible to have live shows in every city, we've developed this process to assist us in finding the best of the best nationwide. Interested comedians should submit their 1-3 minute videos to the link on this page. These videos will be viewed by our team and the online voters to help our producers determine the Grand Showcase final line-up. Online content should be PG13 due to the family-friendly nature of our online audience. Online submissions should not contain strong profanity, offensive language, be sexually explicit, or vulgar in nature.

Your submission needs to be original - whether it’s a skit, testimonial, or something else, we want to know YOU and why YOU deserve to perform in Kenan Thompson's showcase! Once your video is uploaded to our online voting site, we will send you a link to share with your followers on social media.

How are votes casted?

We have opened up online voting for participants, so it's imperative that you share the link with all your followers online. Go to "GALLERY" and then select the state you want to help vote for. Watch the videos, if you like the video, click "VOTE"

Follow @KenanThompson @KenanPresents @360_Comedy @Cher_SimplyC360 for updates and more!

FOR THE ONLINE VIDEO

You might have already entered the contest on FunniestComic.com. This is another way to get chosen for the in-person line up.

The "Wild Card" is another way to enter the contest.

TO BE CLEAR... If you received an invitation from us to sign up. We reviewed your entry information and YOU have got through the FIRST STEP of being chosen to be on his show. Congratulations!

NEXT STEP, Kenan is trying to choose the specific people for his line up for your local show(s). We have had over 1,000 contestants across the country enter this contest, and we want to avoid having a 9 hour long show in each city. Basically, we need to narrow down the contestants. We want to make sure the best-of-the-best are on the line-up and remove anyone who is not ready.

Good news (maybe): You might be on the VIP list from your local comedy club managers and Talent Scouts, however we don't know yet. (Still waiting for all those managers to send the lists of their favorite contestants to Kenan)

The WILD CARD is another way to possibly get on the show line-up for your city. We have limited spots on the shows, so the wild card helps us see who is great and ready to actually win.

Upload a video and we can have our judges and the online voters vote. They will help us choose who is the best and deserves a spot on the local city show.

We are trying to build our participant line-up for the shows. HELP US DECIDE ON THE CONTESTANTS. The comedy club managers and talent scouts in your area have provided us a list of entertainers to feature, question is, are you on it?! With so much buzz and interest surrounding the showcases and talent shows, we don't want to risk missing anyone amazing. We still have open slots to fill and we want to know who should be coming to the stage next!

How to submit your video?

Please provide us a ONE to FOUR (1-4) minute video of your stage act? The shorter the video the better, viewers dislike long videos.

Make sure it is PG13 (Due to the family-friendly nature of our online audience, submissions cannot contain profanity, offensive language, be sexually explicit, or vulgar in nature. Save that for the stage.)

So pull out your devices or grab a link from the internet and get ready for YOUR chance to win Kenan Thompson's "Ultimate Comedy Experience" in your city and then at the finale in New York City. Your submission needs to be original - whether it’s a skit, testimonial, or something else, we want to know YOU and why YOU deserve to perform in Kenan Thompson's showcase! Once your video is uploaded to our online voting site, we will send you a link to share with your fans on social media.