In June, Helium began hosting the preliminary rounds in a contest to determine "Portland's Funniest Person." That contest comes to a close this weekend—after two qualifying rounds earlier this week, the field has narrowed to a short list of finalists, who will compete for a $1,000 grand prize on Sunday night.

The finalists are Randy Mendez, Jane Fox, Sean Jordan, Shane Torres, Ian Karmel, Tim Hammer, Nathan Brannon, and Richie Stratton. And given that this lineup has been winnowed down from a pool of over 100 comedians (the only entry requirement was 6 minutes of original material), Sunday's promises to be a pretty solid local showcase.

The show's Sunday, 7 pm at the Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th, $10-15, tickets here

(I'll be one of the judges and NO I DO NOT ACCEPT BRIBES MY INTEGRITY IS UNIMPEACHABLE.*)

(*whiskey.)