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PA comic laughing all the way to the finals of national competition

Sep 4, 2015 | 6:28 AM

Prince Albert’s Kelly Taylor has made it to the finals of a competition to find Canada’s next top comic.

Taylor is now in a group of eight comedians who will take to the stage in Toronto on Oct. 1.

Taylor said he was shocked to get onto the leader board so quickly, as he was up against some pretty big competition.

“I didn’t think it would happen,” said Taylor, “just because … one’s [from] Vancouver, one’s [from] Calgary, and one guy I know has a huge Twitter following.”

Taylor said he would like to win, but simply being in the finals could do a lot for his career.

“Even just to get to that is great,” said Taylor, “because then you have all the Just for Laughs people there and other people watching you. So even if you don’t win you get that exposure.”

The winner of the competition gets $15,000 and the top three comics get an hour at Just for Laughs.

“It would be nice just to place top three,” said Taylor, “Obviously I’d much rather have first.”

Taylor has been on a real roll as of late and has even caught the attention of some American talent scouts.

The cost of an American work VISA is not cheap, ranging from $6,000 to $8,000.

Taylor plans to put on a fundraising show to cover the costs of his U.S. work visa.

The show on Sept. 13 will be at the EA Rawlinson Centre, and is being sponsored by Canadian Tire.

Malcolm Jenkins is paying for the cost of using the facility.

The show will be family friendly.

 

nmaxwell@panow.com

Follow on Twitter: @nigelmaxwell