At 5:30am on Friday John Rizzo, journeyman comic from Bridgeport, CT, boarded a train to New York, sat for two hours in transit, then ran across Midtown during morning rush, ending up pacing in a dark room for nearly seven hours for his moment (or two) to shine.

And he was one of the lucky ones. Rizzo was one of 15 comics and sketch groups asked back as finalists Saturday night, after two days of auditions held Thursday and Friday, for the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, the annual comedy talent showcase in Aspen, CO.

The auditions were held at the Comedy Garden, a club beneath the arena at Madison Square Garden, drew 270 aspiring comics, each looking for a shot on the bigger stage. Auditioners had a mere two minutes to impress a panel of five judges including producers from the festival, comedy execs from ABC, PS NBC (a downtown comedy showcase) ,and an HBO representative, festival sponsor.

Mr. Rizzo, dressed nattily in a gray suit and vintage tie, nervously smoked a cigarette at Play-by-Play, a bar adjacent to the Comedy Garden.

A former shoe salesman, Mr. Rizzo is a regular on the regional comedy circuit, playing about 200 shows a year and driving his beat-up Chevy Cavalier some 3,000 miles a month to make his living at places with names like the Yuk-Yuk Hut and Giggles.

"I'm a road monkey," Mr. Rizzo explained. "I'm paying off my car with jokes." After waiting and finally auditioning late Friday afternoon — he was comedian No. 90 that day.

One of the last to perform was Mr. Rizzo, who said he was an "old-school, physical" comic who did a lotof "goofy, silly" material. True enough, Mr. Rizzo hit the audience — "I'm nervous, you nervous?" — with a barrage of material about everything from his bad looks to his childhood toys to his ethnicity. He shrugged his shoulders, he grimaced, he imitated a crippled Slinky.

He left to a big round of applause and the reality of an hourlong drive back to Bridgeport. At the bar he smoked another cigarette and accepted congratulations from Mr. Giraldo, a couple of Garden ushers and a comely young female fan.