C'mon! Help a funny lady out!

Alex House, a member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Easton, PA, is a semi-finalist in the 2008 Purina Pet Comedy Challenge. She will get to go to the finals if she can garner enough on-line votes starting April 1^st. So members of her church are rallying around to support her, even if it means stuffing the ballot box.

This is the second try at the finals for the contest. She could not make this phase during her last attempt because her daughter, Grace, was being born right when the finals took place in 2007. She placed third in the regional contest this year which took place at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia. To make it to the finals, she must garner the most votes at the Purina Pet Comedy Challenge web-site, http://www.petcomedychallenge.com/.

Here is what was written in the Morning Call about Alex and her act last Saturday:

With a screaming baby in the background, two pugs at her feet and a pancake in her hand, Easton stand-up comic Alex House has quite a ''tail'' to tell about her second try at winning a national pet comedy challenge.

House, a veteran of the New York Comedy scene who performs Tuesday in Allentown, placed third in the Philadelphia tryouts of the Purina Pet Comedy Challenge. That means she didn't make the finals, but still has a chance to get into them.

Four first- and second-place winners from four regions became automatic finalists, but the third- and fourth-place winners can only make the finals by public vote.

House's act, along with eight others, will be online at Petcentric.com starting Tuesday through April 22. The two acts with the most votes get to go to the finals in St. Louis on May 1.

House, a Kutztown University graduate, was one of the eight finalists in 2007, but couldn't compete because her daughter was born on the day of the finals.

She was asked to compete that year by the Helium Comedy Club, the site of the Philadelphia competition. She worked there regularly and the club knew she used her two pugs, Amadeus and Bella, as material for her act.

House performed what she calls ''family and pet friendly'' and came in second…
House uses material that is true to her life experiences. She jokes about her pug, Bella, saying, ''I call my female dog 'special little girl' because I'm pretty sure she rode the short little yellow bus to the adoption agency.'' She says her male pug, Amadeus, ''has the worst breath. I think it's because he's a little dog and there is a short distance between one end and the other.''

“From April 1st-22nd, make it part of your automatic routine -just like putting on your underwear. In fact you can vote for me while wearing your underwear and it only takes a few seconds out of your day (voting for me-you should wear your underwear the whole day!).”

Trinity’s Rector, the Rev. Canon Andrew Gerns urged everyone at church on Sunday to log in and vote. He said: “As they used to say in Chicago ward politics: vote early, vote often.” News of the contest and how to vote for Alex will appear on the parish’s blog, e-newsletter, bulletin and whatever list-serve the Rector can think of.

Or as Alex says, “Come on, help a funny lady out!”

You can see Alex here and vote for Alex everyday between April 1 and April 22^nd by going to www.petcentric.com.