LCS provides interview tips

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 9th, 2010

That’s right. The millions of unemployed youngsters out there can glean interview tips from watching Last Comic Standing. It’s not our idea, but we wished we’d thought of it.

Someone named “wendyterwelp” dispenses career advice via a blog called Rock Your Career and she says we can learn a lot from watching some of the auditions on the premiere episode of LCS.

4. Address decision-makers and those you meet at the company by their correct names. One contestant was so nervous, he called the female judge the wrong name, TWICE, each a different name, and both wrong. She said simply, “You can stop now. It’s a no for me.” And of course her fellow judge had to say, “Me too, but I’m still calling you Nancy.” (Her name was Natasha.)

We saw the clip (you can see it below), and we were pretty sure that Marc Ryan (the contestant in question) didn’t call the judge by the wrong name because he was “nervous.” (He says later (at 0:53), “Nancy, no one’s listening to you.”) So, he wasn’t nervous. He fully intended to diss one of the judges.

He may not have walked in with the intention of dissing Legerro, but it is entirely possible that, after being interrupted, he bristled and decided to inflict some damage. (Of course, we can’t tell what happened, because the entire audition was edited. But it’s clear that Ryan was uncomfortable with the audition process.)

It is an unnatural process. Nearly all comics wrestle with the fight or flight response in the infamous empty room/AM audition framework. The stress level is among the highest of any experience out there… even for a comedian with hours of experience. If you analyze the 1:11 that we’re allowed to see, you can detect a crazy, complex back and forth that makes for some interesting television.

We would wager that this exchange was a favorite among many of the comedians watching.

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