Last Comic Standing 4, Episode 4: Five Plus Five Equals Twelve

We’re back for the second half of the Semi-Finals as Episode 4 begins this week. For those who want details on who performed in Episode 3, as well as details on the celebrity talent scouts, who won the first online vote and more, check out our recap here.

The second week of LCS4 got a 4.0 rating and an 11 share in the 18-49 demos, making it the number 1 show for June 6 in the heavily-contested demographics. It may not have been the number 1 show for the night (in fact NBC came in third after CBS and Fox), but it’s still showing healthy signs for the network and certainly better than some of the other programming NBC has been running this season.

As with last week’s episode, I’ll be giving the comics a rating based on a * to *** rating: * = Okay, ** = Pretty Good, ***House-material. Since we’ve already covered the setup of the semi-finals and who the judges are last week, let’s just step right into the proceedings for Episode 4, shall we? (Yes. Why, yes, we shall. Yes.)

Anthony Clark comes out to introduce the show and the celebrity talent scouts, with Tim Meadows throwing out treats to the crowd. Nice touch. The first comic out is Gabriel Iglesias, who talks about being stopped by the police as he’s heading out of a Krispy Kreme drive-through. Yeah, you know where the punchline is heading, but he has a good setup for it. ** ½*

Kristin Key continues from her earlier seen set in Episode 1 in discussing being thin. Garry Marshall believes she has perfect delivery, but thought one joke could have been better if told from a different point of view. Key saves the moment by throwing in her “Mr. Burns” joke from Episode 1, which goes over well with the crowd. So far, so good. **½*

Moody McCarthy talks about music and computer. I can’t point by finger on why, but everything just flies past me with McCarthy and I just don’t get into it. *

Ty Barnett parallels how the government works with that of a pimp. He has a great, smooth style that helps the material along. **½*

Nikki Payne brings up her lisp and how it’s not good for sex hotlines. After a gag about Jerry Springer and showing her breasts to resolve an argument (as guests on Springer’s show frequently do), she brings out a prop and duct-tapes herself. Kathy wonders how she pulls the tape off and Nikki does a great job in explaining that she just pulls it off. “…It … it hurts ….” In an odd question, Garry asks if she really has a lisp or if it is just a character. Nikki jokes that the lisps and duct-tape was what brought her to Hollywood. Best of the night of the comics, really. ***

Malik S., who was great in Episode 1 with his material about weighing the same as his nieces and nephews, does a good bit about gas changing things for people, including gang members. **1/2*

Brendon Walsh talks about high school. He is okay, but there have already been a large number of comics that have gone over better and he appears to know it. *

Josh McDermott begins with a look at fishing’s “catch and release” and then morphs it into bigger and stranger things. I liked this guy in Episode 1 and he doesn’t disappoint me here. **

Bruce Fine reprises a joke about his height and then looks at grocery store free samples. It’s steady, strong material and he comes off well. **

Working out is Rebecca Corry’s bit and she seems to excel in doing whole sketches on stage from what we see tonight. She’s pretty good at it, but such sketches not only take time to set up but tend to not go over well in short sets. She does surprisingly well, however. She mentions in the Q&A portion that she once got candy from Garry Marshall when trick-or-treating with a group of kids. There was the obvious joke to be told about an old man giving a young girl candy, but they manage to swerve around that. **

Jon Fisch mentions out putting an address tag on your luggage is like giving a thief a free sample of what to find at the house while you’re gone. Clever stuff and Jon has bumped up to *** in the group for me.

Bil Dwyer reviews being married to a woman and what singles are like. It’s steady, slightly better than average material that Dwyer handles like a true vet (which he is). **

Stella Stolper (or just “Stella,” as she is called by Anthony when being introduced) talks about being pregnant. It is surprisingly flat and not as good as her stuff from Episode 1. *

Mike Bocchetti delivers a group of one-liners and it may be the death of him on the show. They are good gags, but nothing concrete to connect to him that will make the judges remember him. Shame, as there is some good stuff here. *

Gerry Dee reviews his career as a high school teacher, which we find out in the Q&A section was a real career for him. It appears that he’s a better comic than teacher. **

Flip Schultz begins with a bit about Latina women that appears to be there to just show off his acting chops, more than being funny. The botox follow-up is just okay, unfortunately. *