Chris Cashman is better known around these parts as “Captainhilarousness,” the first-ever, and reigning, Comic Wonder of the Year. Apart from his web celebrity, Cashman is somewhat of local star in Seattle where his voice and face have been gracing the rainy city’s TV and radio airwaves for years.

Since his big win on this site, Cashman has attained even larger levels of celebrity, getting interviewed by the Seattle P.I. and, of course, receiving the prized “Comic Wonder of the Year” t-shirt. The Comic Wonder blog recently talked to Chris about funny accents, his favorite jokes, and why he has an edge over all the amateurs out there.

1. How does it feel to be the reigning Comic Wonder of the year?

Tingly. It’s an odd thing to win a world wide competition. it’s even more so to win as an alias. I certainly know what Batman feels like. Or at least the Riddler. I walk amongst ordinary people who are totally unaware how hilarious…ness I am. It’s very cool. I need a cool utility belt.

2. Why do you like jokes so much?

I don’t consider myself a joke teller by nature. I am someone who LOVES comedy and pretty much spends my entire day looking for laughs in the world around me. That’s why the invention of the blog has been so nice. Finally an outlet for the obsurd realities that surround us. My joke-telling philosophy is simply to find something that strikes you as funny and commit totally to it. Know the material and be in the joke. Whether it’s funny voices or the timing and delivery, it’s all about how it’s told. It’s not the size of the joke, it’s the motion in the ocean. I might have that analogy wrong.

3. In your day job, you’re a radio and television personality and you do a lot of voicework. Does using your voice to make a living give you an advantage over other joke tellers?

Definitely. Would a guy who works at an engine show have the advantage in an oil change contest? It’s a part of who I am and it’s really just a part of my personality. It’s like guys who are obsessed with sports and know all the stats and whatnot. It’s just a part of their life and doesn’t seem like work to them. I live to ham it up so to me it’s like an outlet. With varying voltage.

4. You use a lot of different accents in your posted jokes. Do you consciously build up an arsenal of different “voices” you can use?

Yeah, I love to do voices. Not so much accents, as personalities that are familiar to many of us. The ditzy chick, the by the book receptionist, the old guy, the clueless guy, the wimp and so on.

5. Do you have any favorites in this year’s Comic Wonder contest?

Now that the site has more notoriety and familiarity to people the competition is stiff. It’s a good thing. I never thought for a minute about winning last year, I just had fun doing jokes in off moments. I hope that is how most of the people see it who are competing now. Just a fun outlet for laughs. Like American Idol season one. Honest performers who are in it for fun. And to meet Ryan Dunkleman.

6. What’s your favorite joke? Or, what’s a joke recorded by someone else that you really like on the site?

My favorite joke that comes to mind is “the magician.” It can be REALLY long or rather simple. I like the really long version. My dad told it to me in a really long format a couple years back and it really made me laugh. I did a listeners with limited time friendly version. I also really like a couple jokes that I finally got around to posting recently. “The Indian Doppler” and “Lawyers dead end call” are among my favs. Someone did the lawyer joke on Comic Wonder a while back and I liked the premise so much I changed it up and made it a character driven thing rather than story and punchline. The Indian Doppler joke is one of my favorites because I’ve always laughed at how ridiculous the TV weather people are. No accountability and they love to call it “my forecast” when it all comes from the same National Weather Center computers. It’s a great joke that hints at their amazing technology.