Last Comic Standing 2, Episode 8: The Nitty Gritty

Those of you who read Dale Sherman's article yesterday know that he was unable to catch the latest episode of Last Comic Standing 2. Sort of like Miss America, Dale's electrical problem means that it falls to me to carry out the recap duties. And since it's your lucky day anyway, I'm going to add in quite a bit of opinion about things that have been irritating me about this season.

Not much of an intro compared with Dale, is it?

The ANT-bashing starts early, as Jay says that "America rejoiced" at Gary's victory. I would say, "poor ANT," but he's probably going to wind up being the breakout hit of this season.

Gary returns to the house. I don't know about America, but there was definitely much rejoicing in the Comic Castle that night! Corey, who was gripping the shaft of his (golf) club tensely in anticipation of ANT's return, seems particularly mirthful. Upbeat. Delighted, even. Gary makes the "crybaby" gesture towards Tammy, which I thought was a little unnecessary, seeing as ANT was the one who was really gunning for him. Hey, I know, let's make fun of John for crying when Bonnie left! How about that, jerky? You proved yourself, you slayed the wicked queen, now shut up.

In any case, John is happy because he was dreading the drama of ANT's return. I can understand that, actually. He jokes that he's glad that Gary is there to talk to, and hold him in his strong arms. Okay. Alonzo is surprised, Tammy is understandably upset as she mentions that, contrary to how it may have looked, ANT was not manipulating her into doing what he wanted. Gary mentions that ANT specifically wanted Gary to say goodbye to Tammy and Zo for him. Awww.

Corey dances a happy jig in his room, and his shouts of joy can be heard for miles. Gary notes that the "vibe" of the house changed dramatically without ANT. He was the source of fear and insecurity, so much so that the rest of the comedians leave ANT's "haunted" room empty. We get a great shot of the ghost of ANT haunting the bunk beds. Then people imagine ANT's face on various statues around the garden. Got to hand it to the producers, that's really funny. They've been having a lot of these great little jokes like that all season!

Tammy says that the three people kicked out leave a big hole, since they were three of the biggest personalities. And speaking of Bonnie, a dog starts barking outside the door and Tammy lets him in. He's got a note on his collar saying, "I'm Rusty, please play with me." Kathleen's voice shoots up approximately four octaves as she spies the pooch. Apparently, she has been begging for a dog. Great idea, really. We get a montage of everyone in the house sneaking Rusty leftovers.

Alonzo, curling a barbell, says he's ready for the home stretch and he's playing one round at a time. Tammy, curling a garden gnome, says it all depends on who gets immunity.

Cue the fortune teller! Kathleen reads the card, which says, "get ready for your toughest crowd yet." As they file onto the bus, they try to guess who could be such a tough crowd, their guesses ranging from prison inmates to policemen. Tammy decides that they would have to do comedy while selling crack. Close. The bus drives to a shifty area of town, and when you think shifty, naturally, you expect to see Jay Mohr!

Jay teases that they need to hurry so the crowd doesn't get too upset. As they walk in the building, a clown brings out the audience: a group of children.

Kathleen declares that if they have to dress up as clowns, she will walk off the show. Alonzo says that being a clown is one step away from being drunk in a Chuck E. Cheese costume. Jay has them draw licorice straws (really!) to determine the order. John thinks the person who goes last will win, since the kids won't exactly compare notes.

There is a trunk of costumes, and a mad scramble ensues. Jay London says he thought he could wait until the end and still get a decent costume. Jay thought wrong.

Marmadink Stink, otherwise known as John Heffron in a beard and skunk-striped coonskin cap, goes first. He gives up halfway through and decides to convince the kids that, no matter what, just chant "skunk." Kathleen hears the chanting and thinks that John is "unstoppable." Heh. John comments that he now realizes how underpaid teachers are.

Simon Cheese (also known as Gary Gulman with a mouse nose) claims to be Chuck E. Cheese's brother. The kids aren't buying it - they can smell a rat a mile away. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Gary tries to play Simon Says, and it goes over like you'd expect.

Jay London looks odd… well, odder than normal… as Freddy the Flame. He's Flaming! Hey, a shout-out to ANT! Jay is having a hard time adjusting his style down to kid-level. He's speaking in a high-pitched voice, which creeps out John. Jay Mohr is trying his best not to fall over laughing. The kids aren't as pleased, chanting "skunk."

Tammy Pescatelli is in a blue fright wig as Blue Hoo, and we don't see much of her. Corey is Mr. Bootyscratcher in a red clown wig. John thinks Corey has an advantage because of his hundreds of kids that he never sees. Corey connects with a kid in the crowd, who claims that his parents, "scream all night."

Alonzo is Cleanie the Genie, concentrating on the physical aspect. Finally, Kathleen comes out as Lucky the Leprechaun. As Corey says, living in a little kid's body must have been an advantage for her, because she connects with the kids like none of the others. She manages to get everyone to jump over an oversized pencil about eight inches off the ground, and generally gets the kids involved.

It's here where John's brilliant "skunk" plan falls apart, for instead of voting verbally, the kids have to put a sticker on their favorite comic, and the one with the most stickers wins. Poor John, the kids chant "skunk" as they're putting stickers on other comics!