The National College Stand-Up Competition was held yesterday at the Depot where eight young comedians were chosen to represent SF State in this years competition. Twelve SF State comedians took the stage in front of an audience of almost 60 people who each caste votes at the end of the night to determine who would make up the new team.

Annie O'Rourke, one of the organizers for the event, opened up the night by introducing The National College Stand-Up Competition (NCSC) with enthusiasm, stating that it was "the place where dreams come true."

O'Rourke then welcomed Alex Cole to the stage, the guest comedian hosting the night. Cole, sporting a beard and glasses, set the comedic mood by cracking that he got his look from the old testament.

Among the performers was Jackson McBrayer. He took the stage mid-way through the night bringing barber-shop stories revolving around crazy hair cut ideas and misconceptions. McBrayer is one of the Depot's main organizers for comedy night, which used to take place every Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. but is moving to Tuesdays at the same time. He co-ordinates with Alison Victor who has been managing the Depot for the last five years.

"There has been a couple comedy clubs in the area that have shut down," says Victor, "Jackson has been working hard to cultivate it here."

While this may be Victor's last year managing the Depot it's bringing events like this to the campus that makes Victor proud. She says comedy night has been one of the highlights of the past five years.

Without McBrayer and Victor's hard work to bring comedy to SF State, the NCSC may have skipped over it entirely.

"If there is an interest in comedy at the school, " says O'Rourke, "We reach out to them. We don't want to shove it into people's faces. It needs support from the school."

Not only is McBrayer working hard to promote comedy but he motivates aspiring comedians as well. It was McBrayer's influence that inspired another young comedian,Owen Morris, to take the stage.

Having served in Iraq, Morris decided that comedy was a good way to share his stories in a lighthearted manner. He joked about learning Arab, demonstrating how to say "get out" by throwing a shoe.

"I've always been into comedy," Morris said, "Thinking I should do that, I should do that, I should do that. I thought they can do that why can't I?"

With a little nudge from his friend McBrayer, Morris finally got up on the stage and now finds himself on a very talented team of comedians and part of the NCSC.

When asked what they were looking forward to both McBrayer and Morris said they were looking forward to "demolishing" UC Santa Cruz (the next team in line in the competition).

"Secondly," Morris added, "I'm looking forward to an all expense paid trip to Aspen," where the competition will come to a head.

Along with Morris and McBrayer, six other talented comedians were picked last night to represent SF State in regionals. Marc Abrigo, Nick Hanna, Josef Anolin, Edwin Li, Devon Cooke, and Andrew Usher round out the SF State team.

Regionals will be held at Café Du Nord on April 7. The newly chosen SF State comedy team will go up against UC Santa Cruz. This time the winner will be chosen by a panel of judges, formed from comedians. Not only will one team be eliminated here but the winning team will also be cut in half and only those four will advance.

Sponsored this year by Buzzwire many fun and extraordinary prizes will be encouraging audience participation. Among these prizes are a $5,000 "Pimp My Room," which consists of Wii, a flat screen TV, Blue Ray and much more. Other prizes can be won by going to roof top comedy's Web site (rooftop comedy.com) and entering to win a trip to the comedy festival which will be held in Aspen, Co.