Julie Seabaugh Releases 2012 BEST OF THE SPIT TAKE to Elevate Stand Up Comedy to Art Form

A comedy "Doer," journalist and author has created an April Fools' Day quiz uses pranks to match those who enjoy comedy to professional comedians with a similar sense of humor. The quiz is posted online at http://community.brownpapertickets.com/Doers/comedy.html.

Julie Seabaugh, a Doer specializing in comedy at Brown Paper Tickets and editor of the new book, "2012 Best of The Spit Take: A Compilation of Professional Comedy Criticism," has embarked on a mission to elevate stand up comedy to that of an art form. Her strategy? To help North Americans to develop their comedy palate.

Seabaugh's first book is the world's first comedy-review compilation, and is based on work published on The Spit Take (http://www.thespittake.com/), which features timely analyses of albums, DVDs, specials, films, books, and live performances from a comedic gamut of relatively unknown talent, respected workhorses, and living legends. "2012 Best of The Spit Take: A Compilation of Professional Comedy Criticism," is published by Paradisiac Publishing, and available for $11.99 at http://www.amazon.com/2012-Best-The-Spit-Take/dp/0985316861.

Most major newspapers in the U.K. employ a comedy critic, whose work is given the same weight as professional reviewers of music, film, theater, literature, visual art, etc. In the U.S., print comedy coverage tends to be limited to an annual Comedy Issue, or rote and shallow, in a manner akin to a glorified calendar listing. Explains Seabaugh, "Very few publications take comedy reviews seriously, and none publish them very frequently. We are doing both."

Seabaugh created The Spit Take and "2012 Best of The Spit Take: A Compilation of Professional Comedy Criticism" as a part of her mission for the Brown Paper Tickets' Doer Program, a $2 million community-engagement team dedicated to the mission of building communities, with no sales goals or objectives. For more information, go to: http://community.brownpapertickets.com/Doers/comedy.html.

About Brown Paper Tickets: Brown Paper Tickets, the Not-Just-For-Profit ticketing company, revolutionized the industry by putting free, professional tools for ticketing any-sized gathering on the Internet, and continues to champion the rights of ticket-buyers with the lowest fee for the most service in the industry. The company donates 5 percent of the profit from each ticket sale to build communities and nonprofits, pays its employees to work 40 hours each year for the cause of their choosing, and employs a team of "Doers," experts in industries such as music, new media, makers, roller derby and more, to fix, improve and revolutionize the communities where we live, work and play.

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