David Miller of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Brandy Reece of the United States Senate were selected as winners of the 2012 Funniest Fed Competition, sponsored by GEICO.
Miller, of Washington, D.C., won from the experienced category and Reece, of Arlington, Va., took the title in the novice group. They performed standup sets in front of a packed house at the contest's final show last month at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C.
According to a release, Funniest Fed pits federal employees as well as active and retired military servicemen against each other as they perform original standup comedy routines and vie for audience votes to advance in the contest. After progressing through first- round and semifinal shows, Reece and Miller wowed the crowd at the final show and beat out five other contestants to claim $500 prizes and award statues in the image of the GEICO Gecko.
For Miller, who also competed in Funniest Fed in 2011, the opportunity to write jokes and tell them in front of large, attentive audiences is rewarding in and of itself. "If there is one thing that I'd like to communicate to people, it's that kindness, laughter and good will-these things are contagious," he said. "But that's a really big if."
Reece said that despite the perception that federal employees are a serious bunch, this competition shows they also know how to have fun. When her coworkers found out she was competing in Funniest Fed, the jokes began to flow at the office. "Feds can be funny," Reece said. "How do you think we cope with being feds? We just get in the grind sometimes and forget that there's so much material all around."
More than 700 tickets were sold to the final show, and 20 percent of the proceeds were donated to the Wounded Warrior Project.
GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is a private passenger auto insurer in the United States.
More information:
http://www.FunniestFed.com
http://www.geico.com
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