With 32 comics in this year’s Seattle International Comedy Competition, competing in two weeklong rounds to reach the finals, it’s hard to handicap the favorites from the comedy fodder. Tonight’s opening event features a dozen national acts and four locals: Jay Hollingsworth, Sean Ottey, Derek Sheen, and Travis Vogt. Because we like his face, we’ll be rooting for Vogt, a doughy, self-deprecating regular at the Laff Hole. A binge drinker who claims to be willing to mix “absinthe and shoe polish,” he bemoans the age of political correctness. “You can’t even go up to a woman and compliment her on her breasts at Safeway anymore,” Vogt complains. Another problem? The store expect him to wear pants. And since the holidays are near, Vogt may return to a favorite old topic: the recriminatory titles of those Charlie Brown holiday specials on TV. Who wants to watch You Ruined Yom Kippur, Charlie Brown? Venues for 22 more shows range from bars in Bellingham to a casino near Tacoma to the Comedy Underground in Pioneer Square; the final week concludes at the Moore on Nov. 28. BRIAN MILLER

Thu., Oct. 28; Wed., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., 2010