Comedy Central Hosts 'Stand-Up' Sweeps

To support its Friday night stand-up block, Comedy Central is hosting a sweepstakes dangling a private party with a performance by comedian Lewis Black.

Viewers can enter the One Night Stand-Up sweeps June 2 through June 30 at www.comedycentral.com. The grand-prize winner (and 100 friends) score a VIP party at a club in their hometown and a $5,000 cash prize. Black, a correspondent for the network's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, will headline the party and bring along three up-and-coming comedians.

"Friday Stand-Up has become a strong ratings driver for us and we thought we could highlight it and spin it off as a prize," Mitchel Fried, the network's VP-promotion marketing, said yesterday. "It's like a wedding or a bar mitzvah, since the winner can invite so many friends."

New York-City based Comedy Central, which is jointly owned by Time Warner and Viacom, handles the sweeps in-house. Spots on the network support and sweeps sponsor TGI Fridays will feature the contest in restaurants.