Last Comic Standing 4, Episode 1: Why Klaus Lost

Hi, gang. It’s been a while, but I had to get back once we heard about the new season of Last Comic Standing. For those who missed it, we ran an article on what to expect, and you should be able to find it out here. For everyone else, you already know how the game is played, so let’s get started!

The show kicks off the same as in previous seasons, with the skyline of Hollywood and a trip down to the Alex Theater where our host stands to introduce the show. The only difference of course is that instead of Jay Mohr, we now have Anthony Clark. With no mention of the departed Jay, Clark introduces some footage and interviews with both John Heffron and Alonzo Bodden, the winners of LCS2 and LCS3. Both express their happiness in being on the program and feel that they are living a dream. And what of Dat Phan, the winner of LCS1? Evidently that was a dream, because he’s nowhere to be found in the program. Too bad, but that’s showbiz.

Bob Read and Ross Mark are shown in three-year-old footage of them walking across the Tonight Show set. Evidently they get lost there a lot, as they’re never seen doing anything else there but walking around aimlessly on the set. Seriously, the main purpose is to remind viewers that Bob and Ross are talent executives for The Tonight Show and really do know a thing or two about comedians. No, I’m not trying to be funny; I mean that.

As Bob and Ross walk around, it is announced that the pair traveled to six cities around the country to try out comedians for the program. Of those that tryouts, forty comedians would then move on to the semi-finals, in which ten would be selected to move to the “house” (this year, the Queen Mary) for the duration of the competition. Jumping right into the action, Bob and Ross are shown starting their first casting-call.

February 21, 2006, Hollywood Improv, Los Angeles, California:
The first man seen is Felix McNulty, who appeared in an earlier season’s tryouts. Bob and Ross remember him, and the guy does a silly little song that gets a couple of laughs from the guys but nothing else. Next we see Gabriel Iglesias, who kills the two with some material about being “fluffy.” When Ross stops him, Bob appears concerned as it appeared Ross was going to thrown Iglesias out. Instead, Ross merely wants to select him and move on to the next contestants as “we have 10,000 contestants to see.” So he is told to come back.

After a segment of people screaming and making sound effects, Bil Dwyer comes onstage. He does a bit about morning radio that is more observational than really a joke, but Bob and Ross like him and invite him back. After a guy in a wheelchair who calls himself “the Puerto Rican pimp,” but who looks more like a leprechaun, comes Kaitlin Columbo. She is a 19-year-old who has been doing stand-up for six years and does some of the better material heard in the L.A. segment of the show. She is invited back as well.

Marc Price, who many remember from the series Family Ties as Skippy even if Ross hadn’t mentioned it on camera, does a funny gag about reality shows. He kills the gag by then explaining it, but overall he’s not bad. The program then zooms through bits from Yoursie Thomas, Frazer Smith, Chantel Rae and Tig Notaro before settling on Buck Star returning to LCS. Now Buck, as fans may remember, was all over the beginning of LCS2, when he kept auditioning for the guys and kept getting turned down. And y’know what? It was cute back then. But y’know what as well? Cute kinda wears out its welcome after a while, and Buck Star (who now is evidently “Buckstar”) really outlived his usefulness to the program the first time around.

Finally we see a bit of a comic named Nikki Payne, who has a cleft lip and palate. Her act is more about being excited than any physical problems and it goes over well. She is invited back that night to appear at the callback show where an audience will watch all those who Bob and Ross want to see again.

A nice change this year is that the audience gets to pick one choice of their own to move on to the semi-finals as well as Bob and Ross picking out individuals to move on. The audience vote is called the Capital One Audience Vote, and the comic who wins not only gets to move on to the semi-finals, but gets a $1,000 cash prize on top of that. The callback features Doug Benson (who seems a bit off with his material), Matt Fulchiron, Chic Chinery, Scott Kennedy (who I have seen before), Theo Von (who was on MTV’s Road Rules program at one time), Rebecca Corry, Marc Price, Bil Dwyer, Stella Stolper (who goes by just her first name and is six months pregnant), Gabriel Iglesias, Kaitlin Columbo, Wild Willy Parsons, Tig Notaro, Vargus Mason, Kyle Cease, and Nikki Payne.

From what NBC shows us of their sets (which may not always be the fairest way to judge the comics on the show), I would have to go with Wild Willy Parsons as my favorite, although – having faced speech impediment problems of my own, I have a soft spot for Nikki Payne as well. I should also mention that my wife, who watched the show with me, believed Kaitlin was the best out of the L.A. comics.

Those who were picked to move on to the semi-finals in L.A. are:

• Theo Von
• Doug Benson (who was the audience’s vote)
• Bil Dwyer
• Rebecca Corry
• Matt Fulchiron
• Wild Willy Parsons
• Stella
• Chip Chinery
• Tig Notaro
• Gabriel Iglesias
• Vargus Wilson
• Nikki Payne

Surprisingly, Kaitlin did not make it, nor did Marc Price. Both seemed to be shoo-ins. Kaitlin takes it well, however, and she’s bound to go far.