Friday Night Skit Contest

At Anime North we have two major costume competitions — the Friday Night Skit Competition and the Saturday Night Masquerade. Both events are amateur costume competitions for Anime/Manga costumes, Media costumes, (Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, computer games etc.); Fantasy and Science Fiction costumes, Japanese Historical Costumes and any other costumes related to one or more of these categories.

The Skit Competition is for those who love to perform (lip-synching, dancing, acting, comedy etc.) and has a longer time limit per entry than the Saturday Night Masquerade. This year, the Skit Competition will be limited to twenty (20) groups. All groups will have a time limit of four (4) minutes. Once again, these slots will be given out in a first-come, first-served basis.

In order to enter the Skit Competition, you must pre-register by mail (see below for registration information). If sending in your registration form by mail is a problem, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Skit Competition Registration

The Skit Competition will take place on Friday, May 24, 2013 at 7:00 PM.
Note: Time is tentative and is subject to change.

Registration Rules:

1. Download the Skit Contest Entry Form (.pdf)
2. All contestants' names must be included on the form.
3. Real names must be used.
4. All pre-registration forms must be received by May 17, 2013.
5. Once a form is received you will receive a confirmation e-mail.
6. All contestants must check in with the Skit Competition Green Room on site (at the Doubletree Hotel) between 6:00PM and 6:30PM on Friday. You MUST be checked in by 6:30PM.

***NOTE: All times are tentative. The final schedule will be confirmed with all registered Skit Competition entrants.

Mail Entry Forms To:

Anime North Skit Contest
1137 Royal York
#312
Etobicoke, Ontario
M9A 4A7

All pre-registration forms must be received by FRIDAY, MAY 17th.

NOTE: ALL members of your group MUST sign your registration form! If this presents a problem, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Please also be sure to read all the general Masquerade Rules on the back of the registration form. When you fill out, sign, and submit this form, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to abide by all masquerade rules. Contestants who have not signed the registration form will not be allowed on stage.

Judging Divisions and Information

The Standard Division System, in accordance with the International Costumers' Guild Guidelines, will be used as follows:

Junior Division
(Also known as the Young Fan Division)
Any contestant under 13 years of age at the time of this competition may compete in the Junior Division.

Novice Division
A contestant who has not won a major award at a Masquerade other than as a Junior costumer. Workmanship Awards, an Honorable Mention, or an Honored for Excellence Awards need not apply to this count.

Journeyman Division
A contestant who has won fewer than three awards at Masquerades while competing in the Journeyman Division.

Artisan Division
Any costumer who has won three or more awards; or who wishes to enter this division, provided that they do not belong in a higher division in use in the competition.

Master Division
A contestant who has won more than three times in the Artisan Division, or has won a Master award at a WorldCon, CostumeCon, or a major award at a nationally recognized regional Anime Convention. Also, anyone who is a professional in a Costume-related business must compete as a Master. For the purpose of this competition, a professional is defined as making 50% or more of their income in the costuming-related business. If there are not sufficient Masters competing to fulfill this division, those entries will be judged in the Artisan Division.

Out-Of-Competition Division
The Masquerade and Skit Competition are amateur competitions. Anyone who wants to show their costume in this Division may do so, but will not be considered for awards.

Workmanship Judging
Because the emphasis is on performance for the Skit Competition, this year there will be no workmanship judging. If you would like to have your costume judged for workmanship, please consider entering the Saturday Night Masquerade!

*Note: A contestant may compete in a Division higher than the one they are eligible to enter. Keep in mind that if the contestant wins in this higher Division, they must compete in that Division in future competitions.

Presentation Time Limits

*ALL ENTRIES HAVE A TIME LIMIT OF FOUR MINUTES.*

*IN FOLLOWING WITH LAST YEAR, ANY ENTRY THAT EXCEEDS THEIR TIME LIMIT WILL BE DISQUALIFIED WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN AN AWARD.*

Introductions, Music and Sound

If you have any special introduction for the MC to read, please have it typed or printed clearly so it can be easily read. Without an introduction, the MC will announce only your entry number, division, and title at the beginning of your presentation. After your presentation is complete, general credits will be announced.

There will not be any microphones provided for the contestants. Directly addressing the audience is *strongly* discouraged as most of the audience will not hear you and this may distract from your presentation. If you have narration or dialogue included with your presentation it should be recorded on a CD. If you have an introduction, music, or sound effects to accompany your presentation, record it on a CD. Make sure you label the CD with your name, costume title, and the correct side to be played. Please also write the track number to be played legibly on the CD.

If the sound runs longer than your presentation (e.g. a commercial CD) or must be cut on cue, please be very specific as to when to cut. The usual cue is to fade the sound as the entrant leaves the stage. It is best, when you want the sound to end at a specific point on a CD, to record the material you want onto a CD.

This year, we are encouraging confirmed groups to submit their CDs by mail in advance of the convention. This will allow the staff to verify that the CD has been created correctly and will be compatible with the sound system on site. All groups will still have the option of submitting their CD to the Skit Competition Staff when checking in backstage, but will obviously run the risk of the sound equipment not recognizing the CD.

Do not submit valuable or rare original CDs.

CDs used in the Skit Competition can be picked up at the Masquerade Registration desk on Saturday and Sunday.

Staging Order

Junior contestants will present first. Other entries which include children may request to go on next if they do so at the time of registration. If there are any special circumstances that would affect your place in line (such as catching a ride home that night) please indicate this on your form when you mail it in. We will attempt to comply with your requests, but cannot guarantee placement.

Masquerade Rules

1. No open flame, fire, flash powder, or flash paper is allowed. Sealed electronic flashes are permitted. If you are using a strobe effect, please note it on your form so the MC may warn the audience. No pointing of laser pens at the audience or tech crew.
2. No messy substances on stage. If in doubt ask the Masquerade Directors. The stage must be in as good a condition when you leave as when you enter. If you are leaving something on stage, it must be able to be easily picked up by the stage crew, or bring your own ninja.
3. No flagrant nudity. This Masquerade is rated PG-13. There will be children in the audience.
4. The weapons policy of the convention must be followed. No real firearms, no realistic copies, and no projectile weapons are allowed. Please transport your weapons to and from the Masquerade in a bag or closed container if they do not conform to the convention weapons policy. While weapons will be allowed on stage, they must be checked by our staff first. All weapons must be sheathed before leaving the stage. If your costume requires a bow, it must be unstrung when you are not on stage.
5. Each person may present only once during the Masquerade. While any individual may enter as many costumes as they like, they can only wear one of them. The others must be on other bodies.
6. Contestants must report to the Masquerade Green Room on time. Report times will be supplied at the convention: check at the Masquerade Registration Desk for this information. Failure to appear or to be ready to go on stage may result in disqualification. Note that Acts of God may, to an extent, mitigate this.
7. The Masquerade Directors reserve the right to eliminate anyone from competition on the basis of taste, danger to the audience or other contestants, or for any other reason deemed sufficient.
8. The Judges may choose not to give out a Best-in-Show Award, a Best-of-Division Award, or may not give out any awards in a division at all if they do not feel any costumes entered in that division are deserving of an award. The decisions of the Judges are final.

Please contact the skit competition director with any questions This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it