Last Comic Standing 5: Stronger And Funnier Every Week Episode 3 Recap by CC McCandless
June 28, 2007
Last Comic Standing's trip to Australia delivered a much-needed shot of humorous adrenaline last time around, with fantastic accents and fresh, new perspectives. With the casting panel headed to London this week, I hoped for more of the same. I wasn't disappointed. But first, can we talk about this "NBC Talent Contract" that they insist on dangling at the front of every episode? How deceptive is this so-called "prize" anyway? Does a half hour special on Bravo really count? Because I don't know about you, but I'm still looking for, say, a John Heffron sitcom. NBC, you could do worse. A lot worse.
Judge and former winner Alonzo Bodden explained his expectations for the London auditions right up front. "I love English humor because you have two distinct types of humor. You don't know if it's going to be something so highbrow you have to pretend to get it, or if someone's going to throw a pie at you." Luckily for the viewers, the clever British comics fell solidly in the middle. We were treated to a diverse and hilarious group, including an overly young looking 26 year old guy, a funny "Jewish rapper," a woman happy to sell her children to Madonna, and an attractive blonde named Tiffany with a funny bit about how genuinely not desperate the so-called Desperate Housewives should be. There was also "Buddy"-just Buddy-who seemingly got a callback solely for busting Ant's chops and calling him "Francis." And that's more than enough for me. Even the freak show train wrecks here were a little more refined, like Andres Caballero, who began slowly pinching his nipples while Ant berated him. Good stuff.
The callbacks offered more of the same, and the competition was so tough that some I initially considered locks unfortunately did not make the cut, such as Tiffany, apparently. Buddy also bombed horrifically during his second set, much to the delight of Ant, who mimed an explosion of flames during the brutal set. Thankfully, the judges allowed the comics to toe the lines of good taste, and maybe even step over it: case in point, young Matt Kirshen, who survived despite his claim that post-Katrina New Orleans' new slogan should be: "New Improved Orleans Ultra…whiter than ever!" He was great, and deserved the slot despite tangling with what some might consider bad taste.
Sadly, our time with exotic, endearing accents has come to end. As if to hammer that point home, the next stop was Minneapolis, a city that has supplied LCS success stories before in Dave Mordal, Bill Dwyer, and last season's champ, Josh Blue. But this didn't prevent the first guy from coming out in fake buck teeth and a horrific accent. "We have a lot of people who do silly, wacky comedy," Alonzo explained. Kathleen Madigan stated the situation much more succinctly, saying "If I had a fork I'd shove it in my left eye." Fork-worthy disasters included "Fancy Ray," a bizarre Little Richard wannabe. We also got hacky Bob Zany, who is a professional comedian that's been on the circuit for years. Honestly, this show shouldn't be about guys like that, and judging by the results at the callbacks, the judges agreed. They did give a pass to veteran comic Doug Benson, but with good reason: they showed him not making the cut in his hometown L.A. stop, where the judges called him out for his lack of energy. So, he flew to Minneapolis and took to the stage with the same material but delivered it in a funny, mock over-the-top way. He shined at the night session as well and earned a spot. Also moving on was Chicago's Lil Rel, with funny bits about his father berating him using 1970s vernacular. The house could use an original voice like his. The audience favorite and a young guy to watch was Tommy Johnigan, who was hilarious in both of his brief stints on stage.
No show next week, as LCS gets temporarily bumped in favor of a singing show featuring people that can't sing. That's actually probably hilarious, in a completely unintentional way. But check back in two weeks, with a final stop at my old college stomping grounds, Tempe, Arizona. That should lock in a semi-final field of 32 truly talented comics that is looking stronger and funnier by the week. We've seen some genuinely funny people the last couple of weeks and I really hope this is an indication of the potential this season holds. We'll find out soon enough.
C.C. McCandless is an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. He has a Bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
You can contact C.C. here: cc.mccandless@gmail.com
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