Expect the transitions from flow to punch line to hit hard on Friday night as five Grand Valley State University students attempt to out-funny each other in the final round of Last Laker Standing competition.

The doors open at 8:30 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center’s Grand River Room.

The three finalists who receive the most votes from the audience and a panel of judges will take home prizes courtesy of Spotlight Productions, the GVSU student organization sponsoring the event.

The first place prize is an XBOX 360 console, Kinect for the XBOX 360 and several videogames that are compatible with Microsoft’s new motion sensor device.

The runner-up will take home a television valued at $300, and the third place contestant will receive an item that has yet to be determined but will be valued at $150.

Student Senate provided the funding for the prizes, which are worth a combined total of $1,000, said Spotlight Productions Comedy and Speaker Chair Alyson Greenwell.

The comedy competition has furnished senior Greg Kort’s apartment with a Nintendo Wii and a Blu-ray player after his first-place finishes in the past two competitions.

“I was personally really impressed (with my competitors),” Kort said about his fellow finalists. “There were a lot of new faces and a lot of creative stuff. I don’t think I could say that I did the best in the semi-finals.”

Finalist Laura Wizniuk said despite never performing stand-up comedy before, her work in GVSU’s Theater Department prepared her for the competition.

“I’ve had a lot of experience being on stage,” Wizniuk said. “For some people, one of the worst parts of doing stand-up is the nervousness of being up on stage in front of people, but since I always do that, it wasn’t a big deal for me.”

Finalists Greg Monahan and Ryan McKernan both have stand-up experience from past Last Laker competitions, and McKernan regularly tests new material in the Kirkhof Center’s Area 51 during his weekly open-mic comedy show, “Comedy Thingy.”

The newcomer Jason Flannery, a junior in his first year at GVSU after transferring from Kalamazoo Valley Community College, made a name for himself in the semi-finals just seconds after taking the microphone.

“We say ‘tuna-fish’… but we don’t say ‘chicken-bird’,” he observed, drawing laughter from a great majority of members of the audience.

Host Pete Dominick, a special contributor to CNN, will announce the winner after the show. In between the finalists’ 7-10 minute sets, he will also entertain the audience with his brand of comedic social commentary.

Dominick, who also performs as a warm-up comedian for “The Colbert Report,” said he would rather do other things than host amateur comedy competitions, but that hosting Last Laker Standing is an exception.

“There is just something different about GVSU,” he said. “The students who are performing take it seriously and work hard on their jokes and performances, and the students who come to watch and support are amazing, too. I just always have fun doing it.”

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