The laughs came early and often Tuesday night in the Johnny Carson Theater at Norfolk High School. Ten up-and-coming comedians grabbed the mic hoping to win the amateur competition and at the same time honor one of the greatest comedians of all-time...Norfolk's own...Johnny Carson.

The people of Norfolk have always been very proud to call Johnny Carson their native son, and now they're in their second summer of paying tribute to the king of late night with a week-long festival.

Steve From from Sutherland is an aspiring comedian, "Not that my nose is that big...my face is just too far back."

Lora Young is thrilled to be the executive director of this comedy collaboration, "To me it's being able to showcase great new talent to be able to honor Johnny Carson. He gave so much to our community and we as a community do not want to see his legacy die. We want people to always remember what he gave not only to our community but to the world of comedy."

Sam Adams was a sports columnist for the Rocky Mountain News until the Denver newspaper recently closed down, "I love standing before large groups of people and make them laugh and bring loud laughter and that's a big challenge. That response, the guy that got me started told me it was like a drug I'd get hooked and he was right it's like a fix that I have to have to make people laugh."

Adams was voted by the audience as the amateur champion. He got a check for $500 dollars, a consultation with the David Letterman Show's talent coordinator and as an added bonus, he'll compete in the professional competition that got started Wednesday night.

Wednesday through Friday the professional comedians will be vying for a $5,000 and then the gala event takes place on Saturday Night. In addition to the honoring the legendary Bill Dana...David Brenner will be headlining the show on Saturday night. Brenner got his start on The Tonight Show and he was Johnny Carson's guest 158 times.