Sunday, December 19, 1999
Covington man a hit up the road
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Here's an odd one: Josh Sneed is now the funniest person in Dayton, and he doesn't even live there. He lives in Covington and works on computers at Procter & Gamble.
Sneed recall, is the comedian who moonlights as emcee at Go Bananas and organized the '97 and '98 Funniest Person in Cincinnati contest. Comedians — 60 one year, 80 the next — squared off against each other every week from August to late December.
Jokers Comedy Club in Dayton does the same with Jokers' Joke-off, late August through late November. Like Bananas, it's 8-10 comedians a week doing a seven-minute routine. Nine nightly winners (named by judges and audience reaction) come back for the finals.
Which Sneed did and won, using a mix of new material and some old Bananas stuff too. He holds the title of Dayton's Joker of the Year.
Oh yeah, two past winners: Pat Kilbane, now of Fox's Mad TV, and Mystro Clark, now of Soul Train, give Jokers a track record that bodes pretty well for Sneed.
HIT THE ROAD: Well gosh, is that any way to treat Miss America? Kicking her off the bus, we mean.
That from the current People, which reports on a campaign trip Heather French — UC grad and Maysville native — was to make with boyfriend and Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Henry.
Seconds after she boarded the bus in early November, Miss America Organization chairman David Frisch called on her cell phone and ordered her off, telling her the crown is neutral and her presence “suggests that you are campaigning for one candidate over another.”
French didn't see it that way: “I was just going on the bus so I could have a day with Steve. I was taking the day off as Miss America. I was just going as Heather.”
Nevertheless, she got off the bus and, we don't know, went home to polish her tiara or something.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Flipping the pages, we find pigs and high school seniors making news. To wit ...
So here's the January Teen Magazine asking five high-achieving high school seniors, the first class of 2000, to make a few predictions for the rest of the school year.
LaSalle High School's Kyle Flynn was one of them. Football player, member of the track team, umpire for Special Olympics, announcer at home basketball games, he's predicting a time when teen-agers will be “getting more involved in their neighborhoods and thinking about their surroundings. I also feel there will be peace between countries and people will look to the past to correct the wrongs.”
And what would he put in his time capsule? Dance pictures, trophies, boots and all his football and track stuff, including equipment.
Teen will revisit them next September for an update.
PIGS ABOVE CINCINNATI: Mercy, didn't Marathon & Beyond just love the Flying Pig Marathon? The book, one of the Bibles of marathoners, says the race and “managers Mike Boylan, Kelly Weissmann and Rich Williams delivered the goods ... the event will keep us coming back for years to come ... we predict the race will become a must-run on many marathoners' schedules ... participants ... gave the race a 97 percent approval rating.”
M&B also calls “Cincinnati a beautiful and diverse city ... turn your trip to the Flying Pig into a vacation.”
Next year's marathon is set for May 14.
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
