Last Comic Standing: Season 6, Episode 1, L.A.

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on May 30th, 2008

The first segment of tonight’s episode is especially grating. We’ve seen segments on The Weather Channel that had more laughs. It was excruciating and grim… and not in a good way (NBC is fond of promoting their shows by offering a roundup of videos called “Hilarious Awkward Moments.” Apparently, awkward is the new ironic. Ironic, you’ll recall, substituted for funny back in the 90s. We suppose this makes LCS cutting edge. We can’t wait until the wheel turns and humorous is the new funny.)

Speaking of awkward moments, how about Last Comic Driving? The other competing comics are crowded in the rear of the vehicle and– we happened to notice– they didn’t shoot this with lipstick cameras, Taxicab Confessions-style. No! This production has more equipment and booms and cameras and takes than a Michael Bay chase scene. How embarassing is that: You do your bit over and over and over again while the other comics sit in the back with those sick grins pasted on their mugs and Fearne Cotton pretends to drive. It’s The Road Gig From Hell… and it actually takes place on a road!

Our earlier L.A. posting (Jan 30) said, “Making it through to the showcase was Ben Glieb, Ruby Wendell, Thai Rivera, Bob Purkell, Rosie Tran, and Tom Clark.”

Then, the next day, we posted the L.A. Five as Eddie Pepitone, Jackie Kashian, Esaw McGraw, Erin Foley and Ron G.

It helps to know this when watching; it enhances the watching experience.

It is fascinating that Clark, who originally was rumored to have advanced, was, through the magic of editing, lumped in with the Chicken Suit Brigade– the actors, misfits, amateurs, shameless yucksters and various other costumed freakazoids that are somehow deemed to be entertaining by this season’s producers. They did it to him twice!

The Chicken Suit Brigade is a pathetic attempt by the producers to catch Mel Silverback lightning in a bottle. (One problem: Silverback was an act that was crafted over years by a real comedian– Dan Licoppe— and watching a bunch of emotionally fragile people who have donned a suit that resembles an animal or a Cossack or a spaceman doesn’t translate into anything near entertaining.)

Who would have thought that Los Angeles could be made to look like such a sinkhole of talent? It is truly disturbing. Once again there were good comics made to look bad. And there was a disproportionate amount of video spent on some acts that didn’t deserve to be in much more of a dolly shot outside the club.

Jackie Kashian did herself a lot of good. She managed to look like the veteran comedy commando that she is.

It looks like Esau McGraw got a red envelope but he wasn’t depicted as moving on to Vegas. We’ve been warning about that. At least he’s got a nice clip for his audition DVD. (Unfortunately, “As seen on NBC’s Last Comic Standing” will be one of the most diluted credits in comedy clubs over the next few months.)

They gave Los Angeles an entire hour and twenty. Which makes sense. But the time was wasted.

They spent forty minutes in Houston. And they wasted about 8 per cent of that on Sheyla Almeida, this year’s Triana Gamaza. (We only mention her here because we know that folks will be searching for her. Or they’ll be searching for “big tits houston.” Either way, they’ll end up here.) We recall seeing a video package on Almeida about three weeks ago on Fox News. (We assume it was carried on a number of newscasts throughout the land.) Her publicist managed to get her plenty of coverage when she announced that she was going to enlarge her already large breasts even further. That same publicist managed to get her on NBC in prime time.

Welcome Google searchers far and wide!

“I don’t think I’m ready for comedy, because I’m a real actress,” she said at what we hope was the very last 8 seconds of her standup career.

The Houston comics are, as a group, looking better than the Los Angelenos. Was it the editing? Was it the choices made by the producers? Whatever it was, the evening show seemed like it was populated by comics with material and a point of view and confidence.

Andi Smith and Bob Biggerstaff (who both got a lot of face time last season) got the red envelopes.

(Recall what we wrote about Houston, back when we posted this on February 24.)

Everyone seems to have been doing comedy for seven years. Hmmm… We suppose that seven-year figure is just enough time to be experienced, but you could also be under the age of 30, thus making it the perfect number of years when asked the “How long have you been doing this?” question.

Prediction: Everyone in the finals this season gets “Bodden-ed”– the show will be cancelled before the full complement of episodes have been shown. So low will the ratings sink that sponsors and suits will agree to put the show down. We shall see.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we must wait 20 minutes and rewind and watch the videotape of the season finale of Lost.

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