Great American Comedy

Matt Kank, Staff Writer

Comedians Kermet Apio and Dave Williamson will be touring Northeast Nebraska Feb. 5-7. The two comedians will be the featured performers in a weekend of shows provided by the Great American Comedy Festival.

Apio was the winner of the professional stand-up competition at the 2009 Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk.

“You can’t begin to imagine how excited I am to come back to Nebraska,” Apio said.

Three shows will take place throughout the weekend. The shows will be at the West Point Community Center at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 5; at Maximus Restaurant & Sports Bar in Columbus at 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 6; and at Divots in Norfolk at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Students can take advantage of low gas prices with the 37-mile trip to West Point, and enjoy a night of laughter featuring the two comedians.

Students might recognize Dave Williamson from some of his previous work.

Williamson, a Miami native, has opened for the well-known comics Jimmy Fallon and Lewis Black. He has also excelled in many prestigious comedy festivals throughout the United States. At the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas, he finished third. Williamson also finished in the top five in the San Francisco Comedy Competition, and was named “Miami’s Best Comedian.”

Apio did his first open mic night at the Comedy Underground in Seattle in early 1989, and one year later, he began performing full time.

He was a past winner of the Seattle Comedy Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the San Francisco Comedy Competition.

“We think they’ll be great shows,” said Paula Pflueger, chair of the 2015 comedy festival set for June 17-20.

She also said that she wants to provide something different, but keep people laughing as they look forward to the 2015 festival.

Each ticket is $20, and is available online at www.greatamericancom.