Last Comic Standing: 32 Advance To The Semi's Episode 4 Recap by CC McCandless
July 12, 2007
This week's episode of Last Comic Standing gave us the final audition stop before the selection of the semi-finalists, and with some surprisingly good performances the last few times out, the comics in Tempe, Arizona would really need to shine to stand out at this point in the game. "Tempe had great energy," explained Alonzo Bodden, who has been a welcome addition this year as a talent scout. "So the comics are going to do well here and this is going to be the big one." Kathleen Madigan agreed, adding that "there's going to be an exceptional amount of extra funny people. The bar will definitely be set higher." Meanwhile, Ant continued his completely unnecessary presence by continuing to wear the worst rug this side of Donald Trump and occasionally tossing off an insight such as complementing a dude on his earrings.
The Arizona comics camped out for two days just to get audition slots and from the start the competition was filled with talented if unheralded young comedians. Like every other stop, we were also subjected to the weird, the unfunny, and the downright bizarre, many of whom were dismissed with a succinct "thanks for coming in" by Alonzo. At the evening showcase, five red envelopes were handed out to round out the field of semi-finalists at 32. Moving on were Greg Warren, audience favorite John Caparulo, Chuck Roy, Lavell Crawford, and Ryan Hamilton-a diverse and entertaining group. There were no real fireworks here-nobody that was knee-slappingly, must-move-on funny, but there were no horrible hacks that advanced, either. It was just a very solid five to round out the field.
At the end of the episode, NBC quickly revealed the entire list of 32 that advanced, and if you're curious, the breakdown is as follows: New York City and Los Angeles, to nobody's surprise, led the way with six each, followed by five from Tempe, four from Sydney, three each from Montreal, San Antonio, and Minneapolis, and just two from London (although there could have been several more). Fans have complained about the gender makeup of the finalists before, with some stating that NBC feels the need to cast an even number of women despite how many truly deserve it, and if that's the case again this year then it will be a tall order, as of the 32 left there are just 10 ladies…leaving 21 men and one half-Jewish silverback gorilla. And you know he's moving on.
So that's where we stand. The group of 32 is a talented, eclectic bunch and I feel certain that I'll have comics to praise that move on and others to hate that will suck out loud…after all, that's been the case every other time. But there are some young, fresh, funny comedians that I really want to see do their thing in the semis. This competition doesn't have an odds-on favorite yet, but the remaining episodes that thin the field down to the finalists should be compelling and fun to watch. And given this show's checkered past, that's all that we can ask for.
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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