By BTL Staff
Former Affirmations CEO Leslie Ann Thompson is following her long-time passion of stand-up comedy on a full-time basis – and it's paying off. "I was invited by Mark Ridley, from the Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, to compete in a contest organized by The Improv Comedy Club, called Up Yours," explains Thompson. The Improv is traveling around the country and inviting local comics to compete with a 3-7 minute set and then posting them online for people to vote.
At the time of this interview Thompson was maintaining a short lead over the second place contender, a young man from Florida. "I was thrilled to have been invited to compete but now am really excited about the chance I might have to win," she said. The winner gets two shows at Improv clubs in Vegas and a meeting with an agent. Also, at the end of each month of voting (October, November and December) the current winner gets a smaller gig at an Improv club somewhere in the country.
Thompson has used her many contacts on Facebook as a means of motivating voters stating she wouldn't be in the lead without the wonderful Facebook friends and family members who vote every day.
"I love the fact a woman is in the lead – and a lesbian, to boot!" she exclaimed. The promo on the homepage of the site actually contains clips from the competition at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle and, even though out of the 30 comics competing four were women, they only used clips from male comics. Thompson has been in the lead with anywhere from four to 40 votes, ahead of the same comic who has a strong hold on second place.
"It's very hard for women to make it in this industry," Thompson said. "If you look at the calendar of 52 headliners that perform at the Comedy Castle each year, you can usually count on one hand the number of female comics. Not that Mark Ridley wouldn't book more – he is probably one of the most ardent supporters of women comics – but the pool of female comics he has to pick from is so small."
Thompson is no stranger to being a winning comic. In 2008 she took first place in the Women's Show at the 1st annual Detroit International Comedy Festival. She has placed second in several statewide comedy competitions, always losing a close race to a male comic. "I really want to win on so many levels," said Thompson. "Obviously this would be a huge boost to my comedy career, but I want to also prove a point that women comics can be successful as well – and a lesbian comic can win in the wider arena that includes straight audiences."
