Blogs
A Night of Hilarity
The celebrity judges deliberated a long time before selecting the 2024 Erma’s Got Talent champ. It was not an easy call.
“We were so blown away by how everyone was so good tonight,” said Los Angeles stand-up comic Wendy Liebman, who’s appeared in specials for HBO, Showtime and Comedy Central and was a semi-finalist on America's Got Talent.
At the end of the Feb. 28 virtual auditions where 11 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop attendees showed their comedy chops in two-minute sets, Liebman and fellow judges Joel Madison and Jane Condon tapped Meaghan Elwood, a Seattle native, mom and newlywed, as the grand prize winner. They chose three runners-up: Liz Alterman of Chatham, New Jersey; Holly Rizzuto Palker of Short Hills, New Jersey; and Mary Warwick of Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
Elwood amused the judges and audience with tales of her husband, “Dr. Wonderful,” and their “merged tribes” of four children in their 20s.
“They’re half grown up, half children,” she said. “One boy said, ‘Stop treating me like a baby. Hell yes, I want an Easter basket.’”
“You started out with a bang,” said Madison, a former staff writer for Roseanne and a consulting producer on Crashing. “You had a nice joke rhythm that didn’t sound jokey.”
“I was impressed by your ease and your jokes,” added Jane Condon, a stand-up comic from Greenwich, Connecticut, who was the grand prize winner of the nationwide Ladies of Laughter contest.
And the ultimate compliment from Liebman: “You are a stand-up comic.”
Elwood, who has performed stand-up comedy for 10 years, says she “loves nothing more than making people laugh” with witty observations about family life.
“I am honored and surprised to be selected as the winner of this competition. There were so many funny people involved in this show, and I enjoyed seeing all of them share their unique and hilarious perspectives,” she said. “Erma Bombeck has always been someone that I idolize, and being associated with this event is a huge honor.”
Elwood and the three runners-up will perform at Attendee Stand-Up Comedy Night hosted by Jane Condon at the close of the April 4-6 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. The other performers will be chosen either randomly or at Condon’s Stand-Up Comedy Boot Camp during the conference.
An audience of more than 200 registered to view Erma’s Got Talent, which was hosted by comedy writer and podcaster Nancy Berk and loosely based on America’s Got Talent. If you missed the free event, you may register here and watch the recording.