Last Comic Standing: An Amazingly Unfunny Woman, Again Episode 5 Recap by CC McCandless
July 19, 2007
After four episodes of pleasantly surprising quantities of funny comedians, we've finally arrived at the semi finals round of Last Comic Standing. This week, sixteen comedians took to the stage at the Alex Theatre hoping to secure one of the five open spots. There is a near wealth of talent this time around, thanks in great part to NBC's decision to make the casting process a global search this season. But would the presence of more talented people prevent the Last Comic producers from making yet another hideous casting error, one in which they insist on casting by type rather than by talent?
Of course not. Nothing can stop that.
Sixteen comics performed tonight, crammed in between commercials, recaps, and other fillers, meaning that each performance that we actually saw would be sliced and diced down to a joke or two at most. First up was Tempe audience favorite John Caparulo, who had a couple of funny bits about his desire to eat unhealthy food without interference. Next came loud, annoying, unfunny Debra DiGiovanni, who punctuated her jokes with several annoying "know what I mean" tags, as well as a couple of quick, braying "ha has" at her own jokes. She was, as expected, brutal. Then came Minneapolis audience favorite Tommy Johnagin, who raised a red flag with me when we caught him repeating material already. He's young and has potential but that's never a good sign this soon.
The singularly named Dante, the audience favorite in L.A., brought us back from commercial with what must have been a more involved bit incorporating several different impressions (including Jack Nicholson and Robert DeNiro) into a Wizard of Oz theme. The impressions themselves were just passable but the audience seemed to dig his set. Next came Joe DeVito, who had a very awkward rhythm on stage, as his jokes had no flow at all from one to the next, even during such a brief performance. Gina Yashere of London followed with a very funny bit about her Nigerian mother refusing to let her believe in Santa Claus.
Next, Australia's Lawrence Mooney had some funny stuff about women and panty hose. Sarah Colonna followed, and despite the fact that she noted her last gig was in front of 40 people in a bowling alley she was very confident and funny, although I fear her material might be unfairly categorized as "too edgy" by the lowest common denominator-seeking producers. Dwayne Kennedy was next and didn't exactly light the house on fire with his bit about Mexicans as hard-working slaves. London's Spencer Brown had a very goofy vibe and he didn't seem to connect with the crowd.
Tracey Ashley of Miami delivered a pretty dry bit about useless knowledge learned from her boyfriend. Ralph Harris did his entire set (or at least what we saw of it) in character as his 100 year old grandfather. Next came Sabrina Matthews, who admitted to disliking lesbian stereotypes because they all apply to her. The night's final trio led off with Aussie Adam Vincent, who was very energetic. Lori Chase of New York was decent, and then second time semi finalist Doug Benson brought the night to a solid close with a very funny bit about his antics at Disneyland.
And that was it. A whirlwind of sixteen comics brought us to decision time. First, we learned that the audience favorite and winner of a free pass to the finals was Dante, and that's fine. He seems pretty funny, but I'm sure his full set tonight was much better than the abbreviated version we saw. The next to move on was Gina Yashere, and good for her. She's very smart and funny and this show has never had anyone like her. Third was Ralph Harris. I wouldn't have had him moving on. The grandfather bit was obviously one note and I just didn't find it that funny. Next, naturally, as if to torment me, was Debra DiGiovanni. It just wouldn't be Last Comic Standing if they didn't insist on casting some amazingly unfunny woman in the finals. It's a horrible decision and an absolutely predictable one. Last and certainly not least is Doug Benson, who right now has to be considered one of the favorites to win the whole competition.
So, if we're grading the producers-and honestly, they need to be under the microscope at this point-then I'll give them full credit for Dante, Gina and Doug; half points for Ralph, and a big, fat zero for Debra, which in my book averages out to about a C-, and that really sounds fair. I'd be hard pressed to pick anyone tonight that I found less funny than Debra, and it's a shame that once again clearly funnier comedians are bypassed simply to ensure the presence of a certain "type" of person being in the finals. But that's comedy, or at least it's Last Comic Standing. Next week, we fill the rest of the field with four more humans and one half-Jewish gorilla…because we know that Mel Silverback is a stone cold lock. Tune in to see if the producers can improve their performance with the other four slots.
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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