Comedy Coop Showdown by Laughs Comedy Club

Seattle, this is your shot.

Laughs Comedy Club has teamed up with Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival to bring you the first-ever Comedy Coop Showdown — a summer-long stand-up competition where four local comics will earn a primetime performance slot at Bumbershoot 2026 on the Charlotte Martin Theatre stage. That’s a 474-person festival stage. A real crowd. A real moment.

The Prize:

• Headlining slot at Bumbershoot 2026 — Sunday, Sept. 6, 7:30–8:30 PM
• Paid Spot
• 2x Bumbershoot Festival passes

How It Works: Each qualifying night, ~20 comics perform a 4-minute set. The audience votes via QR code, with input from Bumbershoot and Laughs bookers. One winner advances per night.

Qualifier Dates — All at Laughs Comedy Club, Seattle:

• Final Round: Wednesday, September 2

Tickets at laughscomedyclub.com

Round 1 Winners:

• People’s Choice: Julie Zack is a rising stand-up comedian in Seattle. She's a single mom and brings her experiences trying to parent little boys while maintaining her own life to the stage.
• Critics' Choice: Nathaniel Honey is an educator, content creator, and multidisciplinary artist who hails from the Midwest. For over two decades, Honey has graced stages across the country, delivering stand-up, burlesque, and improv comedy performances. Notably, Honey has been featured at events like GenCon, Second City Comedy festivals, Emerald City Comic Con, PAX West, Bumbershoot, and SXSW. Their material delves into thought-provoking topics, including sex, race, abolition, and even the beloved children’s show Paw Patrol. As a fan of board games and an advocate for collective liberation, Nathaniel Honey brings a unique blend of humor, insight, and social commentary to their artistic
  endeavors.

Round 2 Winners:

• People’s Choice: Taylor Chew is a Seattle-based stand-up comedian whose material centers around life as a single millennial trying not to spiral while family, friendships, and the world change around her. Her mostly-clean style is confessional and self-aware, with some silly theatrics thrown in on top.
• Critics’ Choice: Ponch is a Mexican-American comedian from Los Angeles who’s called Seattle home for the past 15 years. He studied theater at UCSD and started stand-up in 2017. His style of comedy is usually self-deprecating and talking about being Mexican in Seattle, being married, his experiences growing up in LA, his relationship with his weight, and his general observations about the world. He’s opened for numerous headliners, performed at the Laugh Factory, Helium, Mic Drop, Canada—and even does sets in Spanish.

Round 3 Winners:

• People’s Choice: Taylor Clark is a seasoned headliner who spent his formative Comedy years in the cutthroat New York comedy scene. He has opened for comedy legends like Jeff Ross, Mark Normand, Joe List and Morgan Jay. With two comedy specials online and several national tours under his belt, Taylor is becoming a legend in his own right. He’s also a pro skateboarder, filmmaker, and talent director of the Seattle International Comedy Competition. He lives with his family reluctantly in Everett, WA.
• Critics Choice: Ricci Armani is a stand-up comedian, writer, and the creator of the monthly sold-out show “My Straight Friends” playing out of The Comedy Store in LA and Seattle. He has been featured in a Forbes article, “Top AAPI Comedians To Watch,” and on Business Insider to discuss why getting laid off was the best thing to happen to him. Ricci’s comedy performance is quick and witty. Covering topics from his extensive retail experience, life as a gay millennial, and stories from his past. Excellent crowd work as a comedian as well. He has featured in comedy festivals including Just For Laughs in Montreal, New York Comedy Festival, MoonTower Comedy 2026 in Austin, Texas, and Netflix Is A Joke 2026 in LA.

Round 4 Winners: Find out at Laughs Comedy Club Wednesday, September 2

About Laughs Comedy Club: This isn't just a venue; it’s a Seattle institution. Since opening its doors, Laughs has been dedicated to the craft of the joke, providing a stage for the heavy hitters of the industry and a training ground for the city's funniest exports. For this year’s Bumbershoot, Laughs steps out of its U-District home to bring its signature high-octane performances to the festival stage. Get ready for a curated lineup that captures the raw, hilarious, and diverse spirit of the Seattle comedy community.