Last Comic Standing: A Drag Queen, A Nun And A Clown.... Episode 9 Recap by CC McCandless
August 16, 2007
Seven comedians remain on Last Comic Standing but the route that will trim that group to five is anything but predictable. "We don't know what we're doing," said Matt. "But that's not really much of a surprise anymore." Meanwhile, the prospects of reaching that elite final grouping had everyone quite aroused…especially Doug. "I can't tell you how excited I am," he said. "But I could show you if I stand up." Would the viewers be just as thrilled when that group is revealed? Probably not.
The short bus took the comics to the Hollywood Social Club for the competition's final challenge: Speed Laughing. Like speed dating, each participant would get one minute to impress their targets. In this case-shameless cross promotion alert-the subjects in question were half a dozen models from Deal or No Deal. At least that's what the comics were led to believe. Jon, for one, was concerned. "Hot girls intimidate me," he explained. "I'll be happy if I get words out." Little did he know that thanks to "the old school switcheroo," the lovely ladies would be the least of his concerns.
Mel Silverback returned once again, this time banging a gong to start and end each one minute round. With immunity at stake, the comics readied their best material, but they had no way to prepare for the three new people they would need to impress, as three of the models were replaced with a drag queen, a nun, and a clown. Which sounds like the start of a really bad joke, and in a way, it was. "Damn," was about all Lavell could muster up at the sight of the transvestite and that really sums things up well. "It's not a girl," added Doug. "It's girlesque."
The presence of the nun didn't deter Doug at all, who plowed on undaunted. "Sister Rose, I'm great in bed," he stated. "Yeah. You have to sit here and listen to this because I've lost this challenge so I might as well do the most inappropriate thing I can possibly do next to whipping it out and slapping it on the table." Naturally, this exchange was the funniest thing we've seen all season.
The mix-up threw a real wrench into Gerry's plans, as he intended to simply kill with the same one minute set six straight times. "I don't have a lot of transvestite jokes," he admitted as he stayed the course with his original idea, to underwhelming results. None of the comics loved the curve ball thrown their way, yet some handled it better than others. "I think I sucked," Ralph explained. "I'm ready to perform in the head to head." Amy was crowned the winner for an immunity reward that she openly admitted she desperately needed. Upon hearing the news she got a big hug from her buddy Matt and a much cooler reception from Lavell and Ralph. Game on.
After the challenge we were subjected to a pointless and inane trip to a community college for some stress release therapy, which included punching dummies, hitting a bag with a bat, and something called a "heart sandwich" that is probably best left alone altogether. Doug has a much better idea anyway, stating "the best way to dump your stress is telling a dirty joke to a nun."
Eventually the faithful short bus delivered the group to the Santa Monica pier, and the nighttime voting session by firelight made me a little wistful for Jeff Probst. With this being the final vote, Doug explained that he planned to stick to his strategy of voting for showdown avoidance. "Why compete if you don't have to? I wish the Olympics were like that." Unfortunately, that plan went out the window after the initial vote left Ralph and Doug as the first two showdown competitors. Without an eligible vote for a third, they were then allowed to hit up the photo booth and vote again together, picking the third opponent. In a move that didn't surprise anyone, they selected Matt, due to his inexperience. He even acknowledged as much, saying "I don't think many people are expecting me to come back from this one."
Once again, the showdown resulted in an incredibly close competition, at least according to the studio audience. I felt like Doug won handily, and honestly it wasn't very close, as he was hilarious this entire episode, from challenge to stage. Matt was fine, and would have been my second choice.
By now, you've probably guessed that this means that Ralph won, of course. I just don't really dig his stuff, and I'm shocked that he is in the final five at the expense of Doug. It's highway robbery, and yet I've learned to expect nothing less from this show by now. So there we have it, a group of five where literally anybody can win: Ralph, Amy, Jon, Gerry, and Lavell. I'd say that Lavell looks like the favorite right now and Amy is probably the long shot. But this season has proved that I have no idea what will happen next, and I suppose that is part of the fun. Although having Doug and the gorilla on stage next week would be a lot more enjoyable for me.
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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