Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Best Awards Ever!

Culture | April 10th, 2014

Come party at HPR’s Best of the Best Awards this Wednesday

Gear up for what may be HPR’s best ever Best of the Best Awards Ceremony.

This April 16, meet business owners, artists, bartenders, actors, chefs, directors, executives, politicians, comedians, musicians, writers and more at The Plains Art Museum.w

Absolutely nobody knows who won (just Strand, Tronier and Gomez.) That’s why it will be so much fun.

I wish we could say I won all five of my categories: Best Asian, Best Small Music Venue, Best Large Music Venue, Best Chef and Best Clothing Store. (I am not nominated for any of these.)

But we’ll just have to wait and see.

Expect cheers, surprises, drinks, Josie’s Corner desserts, dancing and killer live gypsy jazz music by the Carluster Crumplebee Orchestra.

Oh yes, and really big laughs – our five Best Comedian finalists will present the awards. Scope them out here while it’s still safe.

JD Provorse

Provorse, a Jamestown-native, works at the new Prime Comedy Club. He’s a respected vet in the scene. He might even cure your puppy problems. He says he got into comedy because he thought it might help him meet ladies. You might ask him to explain his answer to this question then …

Describe your style of comedy: It's the kind that doesn't help you get laid.

William Spottedbear

Spottedbear is from originally Pittsburgh.He’s half Native and half European. He’s a real slick comic – he may be making fun of you and you won’t even know it. He says he doesn’t want to win best comedian – he just wants a hug. We hope someone gives it to him on Wednesday.

How did you get into doing stand up:I didn't get the appropriate hugs as a child.

Erik Block

Originally fromOrtonville, Minn., Block might be most well known as being a member of the uber-hot boy band KumNcyde. He sings, dances, plays guitar and makes inappropriate jokes with his stage-confident charm. Courtney’s Comedy Club is to thank. He’s a newbie comedian who apparently didn’t want your comedy votes, just your KumNcyde votes.

Why should you win 2014 best comedian? Quite frankly, I shouldn’t. Adam Quesnell should.

Adam Quesnell

Quesnell, a Fargoan, wins competitions, records professional comedy albums and opens for comedians like Maria Bamford. He also rocks a beautiful, lengthy yellow beard.

Describe your style of comedy? Well, it's about how I'm terrified of everything, how I don't expect anyone to relate to me or understand what I'm saying, and how everyone dies someday … in fact we are all dying in that room together while I perform.

Amir Bikić

Bikić, a Bosnia/West Fargo-native, is the Pickled Parrot king, at least on Wednesdays as the open mic host. He also emceed Fargo’s first ever (and super packed) Comedy Brawl, shirtless.

Why should you win 2014 best comedian? I want to use my status as Best Comedian for free drinks. Also when my wife says, “You’re not funny,” I can come back with, “Actually, according to public opinion, I am really funny!"

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions…

Friday, October 31, doors 8 p.m. show starts at 8:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe annual Aquarium Halloween Cover Show is back and it is stacked. And this time there are a limited amount of presale…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com At the end of September, downtown Fargo said goodbye to another old friend; the Spirit Room closed its doors, marking the end of an era. The Spirit Room room has been a fixture downtown for the…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comAnother public health crisis besides guns: lack of empathyThe Sisters of Charity have finally had enough of their Trumper boss, Roman Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. One of the most…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.comNoémie Merlant, working from a script she wrote with Pauline Munier and her “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” collaborator Celine Sciamma, directs herself in “The Balconettes” (the…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Gallery 4 downtown recently celebrated its 50 year anniversary, making it one of the longest consecutively running galleries in the country. With different membership tiers, there are 17 primary…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case. …

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…