Last on stage, first in funniest routine

If you ask Brandon Tyra about his beginnings in stand-up comedy, he might tell you about how he fell into the craft. Truth is, it was more like being pushed.

While a student at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Tyra traveled with the school’s skit troupe, promoting the college to different schools in the area.

“During costume change, [the guys] would shove me out on stage and say, ‘Entertain them,’ ” Tyra said. “As a defense mechanism, I had to tell jokes.”

By the time the 25-year-old left the school with a degree in film, he had a 10-minute routine worked up, comprised of celebrity impersonations, film spoofs and a voracious momentum in performance.

On Oct. 14, his energetic delivery helped Tyra bag the title of Orange County’s Funniest Person, held at the Martini Blues supper club in Huntington Beach. That was no small feat, considering he was slotted last in the lineup.

The Yorba Linda resident had almost 90 minutes to sit, get nervous and consider the possibility of performing to a tired and alcohol-groggy crowd. Judging by his performance, and the crowd’s response, Tyra did not let the nerves get to him. Rather, he climbed on stage, grabbed the microphone and went right into the act with the confidence of a 10-year veteran.

“I really kind of forgot it was a competition, because it goes so far in-between rounds,” Tyra said. “It takes a good three to four weeks between performances.

“I was just thinking of it as free stage-time and time to practice.”

The climax of his title-winning performance came during a fevered scenario of Michael Jackson combating Osama bin Laden, done in a parody of the 3-D short film “Captain EO.”

“Here’s how it would go down,” Tyra said before speeding through the whirlwind fictional account of the King of Pop single-handedly defeating terrorism with break dancing, shooting holograms from his chest and flying Furbies.

“He was right on and had good energy,” said O.C. Funniest founder and host Bill Word. “He got the crowd.”

Orange City resident Christopher Heard didn’t seem to mind at all taking second place behind Tyra.

“I just hoped to break the top four,” Heard said. “Last year, I didn’t make it out of the preliminary rounds.”

Heard easily won over most of the crowd, a large number of whom did not come to see either he or Tyra.

“And how can you not like Christopher [Heard]?” Word said.

“He’s just so likable, you feel like you know him from just seeing his act,” Word said. “He seems very comfortable [at the mic] even at his age.”

Heard, who recently turned 21, uses his age as material in his act. The Chapman University junior had the audience convulsing with his anecdotes on being the last in his group of friends to reach a legal drinking age, the awkwardness of getting referred to as “sir” and the embarrassment of having a girl tell him, “you looked better from far away.”

Thanks to weekly slots at Martini Blues, Heard has had plenty of time to get worked up for the competition. You might spot him at the club, on stage or at one of the tables, writing new material with his friends.

Heard and Tyra have only been in the game for a couple of years, but they feel confident in going out there as professional players. Both have quite a lineup in the upcoming months.

On Nov. 18, Heard, Kenny Klein, Johnny Loquasto and Rich Ornelas will be at the Don Cribb Theatre in Santa Ana.

“I’m currently writing a one-man-show for the Aspen Comedy Festival,” Tyra said. “I don’t even know what a one-man show is, but I’m gonna figure it out.”

To view Tyra’s winning performance, visit www.ocfunniest.com, or find out the latest on both comics at www.myspace.com.