USA Today's Reality Check Needs Reality Check

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on July 12th, 2004

The chuckleheads who slap together USA Today’s Reality Check, a weekly rundown on what went on with the various reality series, need to bone up on the reality of standup comedy. Their most recent update contains two glaring goofs:

Ant spends more time baiting Gary than he does prepping for his time at the microphone. He pays for it in the end — he’s eliminated.

“Prepping for his time at the microphone?!” where have these people been? If Ant is a real live comic, he’s done all the prepping he’s ever going to do– on the highways and the byways of standup America, in one-nighters and clubs and casinos and college gigs and hell gigs and everything in between. What is it about the civilians of this world who can’t figure out that comics are always ready? Then, there’s this one, about Gary Gulman:

Gary suspects he’s going to be dragged to the standup standoff before the vote. So he packs his bags early in the day, leaving plenty of time to hone his routine. Good call — he wins the standoff and gets to spend the rest of the night unpacking at the house.

Our head! She spins! This cliche that has us comics standing in front of the mirror with a hairbrush is embarassingly outdated.