I have to comment on the new season of Last Comic Standing, which premiered Tuesday night. I know a lot of people connected with the show: many of the comics, writers, producers, hosts and have played poker with talent scout Ross Mark for years.
The biggest surprise of the new season is that Tony Clark is hosting. Last time around, Tony was one of the celebrity judges for the finals in Vegas along with Drew Carey and Brett Butler and there was a bit of a scandal. When the houseguests were announced, the judges were surprised that one of the best comics didn’t get in and one of the worst ones did. They compared notes and discovered the results were not based on their votes. The judges, particularly Butler on her website, made a fuss about it and it was revealed that NBC reserves the right to adjust the outcome of the entire show to their liking (as is probably the case with other shows, even American Idol). None of this came as a shock to the comedy community. Despite the open casting calls for LCS, most established comics have audition times arranged for them. Even those auditions are virtually pointless as many of the finalists have been chosen in advance. One friend of mine told me how she was asked to give background information on one of the eventual finalists before auditions ever took place. So it’s pretty much all fixed and I’m curious why Tony decided to host it.
As for the premiere episode, the thing I found most amusing was the way they talked about the success of season two winner John Heffron and season three winner Alonzo Bodden but conveniently omitted season one winner Dat Phan. Dat was young and cute and Asian but unfortunately, not the least bit funny. His win was probably due to a little assistance from NBC which is why it didn’t translate into any sold out comedy tours.
Once again, bookers Bob and Ross did their best to ask questions that indicated they’d never seen these comics before even though they’ve known many of them for years. And barely-amusing character-types won out over seasoned performers. I know they’re looking for potential sitcom stars but given the title of the competition, it’s a bit of a disgrace that guys as hilarious as Jimmy Pardo and Doug Benson didn’t even make it to the Las Vegas finals. Too bad for them that someone else from their own agency (Omnipop) was picked to fill the sole white guy spot. The female finalists are particularly weak and will only propogate the widespread notion that chicks aren’t funny.
I’ll probably continue to give updates on the show but if anybody’s interested in knowing who made it into the house and who has been eliminated, I posted them here. The password is “lcs”
Charlie Currie wrote:
I thought the funniest joke Doug Benson did on Last Comic Standing was the one I wrote in 1991 about pigs attacking more people than sharks. I’d love to hear where he came across it.
North of the Border
Doug Benson wrote:
I came across that joke when I thought of it. I’ve never heard of or seen this guy who claims to have wrote it.
Charlie Currie wrote:
I think the public could decide. I’ll post the video from 1992 from the People’s Comedy Fetival in Toronto, a year after I wrote it and you can post a video from 1998 when you used it for the first time. If you wrote it you would know where the premise came from. You don’t, so you didn’t.
XM satellite radio also has a tape from 1992 on their playlist that includes the joke.
One of the people on Last Comic Standing, that beat you out, saw me perform the joke you borrowed many years before you aired it out. Maybe she passed on the information and brought your hack train to a halt.
Jenée wrote:
Since you’ve possibly committed libel on my blog, I feel the need to respond. I don’t know what the People’s Comedy Festival is or whether or not it’s something that’s aired on American television. I do know that Doug’s a talented comic with clever material and I can’t see him stealing someone else’s joke. Obviously I don’t know for sure that he didn’t but you haven’t offered anything that shows you know definitively that he ever saw you perform the bit. It’s probably a case of parallel thinking, which I’ve had happen with a couple very unique jokes based on personal experiences. In any event, you really should make a better case for yourself before you throw around accusations like this.
sharappa wrote:
what she said!! Doug Benson is hilarious and Super Original! also not stupid, If he stole your dumb pigs can’t fly joke, why tell it on tv? he has a whole mess of non pig jokes he could tell.