It was the big break Kathleen Dunbar had hoped for. It just wasn't something she had planned.
Dunbar was a participant in last year's Las Vegas Comedy Festival, geared to providing unknown or marginally famous comedians a shot at being discovered, with talent agents and scouts from various agencies and network television in attendance.
The five-day festival is also designed to help educate comedians with various seminars, such as this year's "The Stardom Strategy," "What You Should Know About Doing a Talk Show" and "Business of Comedy."
A class on professionalism would have been appropriate as well, at least for one of last year's headliners.
Comic Brian Dunkleman, then of "American Idol" fame, was scheduled to serve as emcee for one of the festival's showcases. As was reported in the Las Vegas Sun, Dunkleman was overserved and too impaired to perform.
Hosting duties fell to Dunbar.
"It was one of the great things that happened to me. I went down to the festival and replaced Brian Dunkleman," she said. "It went great. Nobody said, Where's Brian?' I actually got a couple of gigs from it."
Besides providing Dunbar an opportunity to shine, the experience also re-affirmed a showbiz axiom.
"You can be replaced at any time and anywhere," she said. "That's one of the things about this business, you have to be professional. People think you can be drunk and obnoxious ... but people aren't going to put up with that anymore."
Dunbar is one of the Las Vegas Comedy Festival's clear-cut success stories.
The comedian was one of 200 participants in a nationwide talent search selected to perform at the festival. A total of 1,800 comics auditioned in cities such as Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
The comedians were then divided into several showcase categories, including by experience level, gender, ethnicity and style.
It's much the same for this year's festival, which begins Wednesday and ends Nov. 2. The five-day event takes place at Stardust and the showcases are open to the public. (For more information, go to www.lasvegascomedyfestival.com.)
While their punch lines might be different, each comedian was looking for the same result: to be discovered.
Mark Allen, producer of the festival, said there are many success stories at the festival: a comedian who was nabbed by the CBS revival of "Star Search," another comic who appeared on the daytime gabfest "The View," along with two comedians who had a shot at fame and an exclusive contract with NBC on the network's "Last Comic Standing."
And many others are signed by agents or managers.
"What it has developed into is a comedy convention where the industry and the comedians can come for seminars and learn something about their trade," he said. "As well as network between the performers and the industry so that the comedians can get their career to the next level."
Paul D'Angelo is so confident of his ability as a comic that he gave up his career in law.
A former assistant district attorney in Boston, D'Angelo began performing comedy 15 years ago after giving a humorous toast to a friend at a bachelor party.
"People came up to me and said, 'We'd love to hire you for other things.' " D'Angelo said from his home in Boston. "So I started going to comedy clubs and instead of watching for fun, I stared thinking I could do the same thing."
At 47, though, the attorney-turned-comedian is itching for mass exposure.
D'Angelo wrote, directed and starred in a pilot for a sitcom, "A Fine Mess," as well as a pilot he wrote, "Murphy's Law," either of which he said he would like to get developed soon.
After being selected as the top professional comedian in Boston, meaning he is a full-time comic with at least one TV credit, D'Angelo is hopeful that the festival will lead to his big break.
"I hope the Las Vegas thing makes me some contacts, so I can get my toe into doors to push these projects that I've put a lot of time into. If I just get a shot, any doors that could open up can't help but create opportunities," he said. "I'm looking forward to it."
Eddie Cruz, a 30-year-old comic from Houston, is in a situation similar to D'Angelo's.
Cruz has performed comedy full time for two years. Married with a young daughter, the comedian is looking to put his career on the proverbial fast track.
Cruz has never played at a festival, but after winning the talent show in Houston, he will perform in the Latino showcase, where he hopes to be noticed.
"It's very important for anybody who's there," he said. "I have my press kits ready to go, you never know who you're going to meet. I want Jay Leno to walk from the side of the stage and say, 'Come with me.' "
While Leno isn't scheduled to appear, other well-known comics at the festival include the Smothers Brothers, recipients of the festival's Career Achievement Award; Wayne Newton, who is scheduled to receive the inaugural Bob Hope Lifetime Service Award; The Improv's Budd Friedman, who will receive the Steve Allen Pioneer of Comedy Award; and Rita Rudner, who was voted Comedian of the Year by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Rudner, who performs at New York-New York, said winning the award was "very nice."
"I'm always very happy when someone says something nice about me because it happens both ways," she said. "No one has to vote for you, no one has to do anything for you in show business."
While it's taken many years for Rudner to work her way to this level, she applauded the efforts of the festival to teach and further the careers of today's comedians.
"There weren't any events like this when I was starting out. I spent my time in libraries listening to comedy albums, watching comedy shows, going to night clubs and to all the comedy festivals. I created my own classes," she said. "But any time you try to learn that's a good thing. And any experience you can get is good experience.
"The more you put yourself out there, the more you give yourself a chance to be noticed. This is a good stepping stone."