This featured blog is from People's Republic of Komedy, formed in 2005 by four comedians, Kevin Hyder, Daniel Carroll, Emmett Montgomery and Scott Moran. This foursome has produced over 130 comedy shows in multiple venues around the Seattle area. Their entertainment has been classified as "alternative" comedy, a format in which comedians are free to experiment with unconventional material.

People's Republic of Komedy will host two showcases daily at Bumbershoot on the Comedy West Stage.

The Dying Days of Summer

Recently I was standing in line at the corner store by my house. I had just finished performing and was rewarding myself with a packet of string cheese and a large bottle of beer. Behind me, a young lady was moaning to her companion about the approaching fall. "Can you believe it is already beginning of August? Where did my summer go? I don't know what I'm going to do." Everyone in line seemed to agree with her. I paid for my items, grunted a thank you to the clerk and staggered out the door. Nobody seemed to notice that I was dressed as a zombie.

That night I had hosted a show in which I turned into a zombie throughout the show and had to be destroyed. It was one of the most ambitious things I had done on stage and something I had always wanted to do. I was thrilled that I was able to pull it off. Almost as much as my girlfriend was to finally get rid of the tub of fake blood that had been living in our fridge for the past four months.

As I shuffled home, I started to think about what the woman in the store said. I started to think about how as a kid, August would fill me with mixed emotions. Of course, It was the last month of summer and it meant that soon I would return to the hell that was school, but it also meant that Halloween was only three months away. It was time to start planning my costume and my October adventures.

Augusts became more intense when I was in high school and I started volunteering at charity run haunted houses. The long August days were perfect for turning warehouses into haunted mansions. I would spend my time with other like minded individuals in preparation for October when, covered in blood and make-up, I would have the opportunity to scare the shit out of my "peers" and their "dates."

After graduating from high school I got distracted by the real world. I had to concentrate on dropping out of college and later on, on whatever job that was sucking the life out of me. I still enjoyed Halloween. I was just busy being miserable. Life took over, there wasn't time for the dead anymore.

I think it all changed after my friend Kevin Hyder introduced me to a new chamber of horrors known as the comedy open mic. After a few months I had quit the well-paying job that was killing me on the inside and was doing as much stand-up as possible. Stand-up comedy had bitten me and infected me with something incurable. I had found what I wanted to do.

Stand-up comedy is a lot like trick-or-treating but instead of wearing a costume, I show the audience the creature that is me. Instead of asking for candy, I am asking for laughter. The zombie show at the beginning of this August was a return to my childhood sensibilities and it felt good. It helped me realize that for me Halloween is never that far off. I think ten year old me would have been proud.

myspace.com/emmettcomedy