Ralph Harris GONE!

They teased us unnecessarily at first.

They brought out Doug Benson for a short set. His surprise/non-surprise guest appearance at the top of the show got things off to a lighthearted start. Benson stated that he was darn happy to have been designated as the “sixth funniest person IN THE WORLD!” And we especially liked it when the camera cut to Dante in the audience. (Benson even squeezed in a “Hi, Dante!” between jokes.)

But then, instead of announcing who was eliminated, they merely announced one comic’s name, Gerry Dee in this case, who would perform this evening. Then they brought him out and had him do a set.

And it went like that, cruelly, excruciatingly, until they were down to two.

Next up was Lavell Crawford. Now let’s meet Lavell’s family! Cut to: footage of Lavell visiting home in St. Louis and… eating! Of course! Crawford was much more confident this week. So much so, it was easy to forget that they were still engaged in a competition. That’s right! This set will be judged by the “global audience” at home! Perhaps the stay of execution and the way in which it’s administered (seconds before they’re introduced) that instills a sort of giddy confidence.

There goes that prediction. Crawford was lucky, because Lavell was not Lavell last week. Predicting is pointless from here on out.

The hardest we laughed all night was when Crawford opened with a callback to Dee’s set (a reference to Dee’s supposed grade school project where he and a classmate taped their penises together).

Amy Schumer was next and, after the Going Home video package (that showed Schumer in a tiny, white bathing suit, playing beach volleyball!), Schumer came out and did a set that sounded much like that which might have been cobbled together from a first-year comedy joke idea notebook. (The Female Half actually had the “I dated a mime… and I just felt that there was this wall between us” joke in one of her early notebooks– actually did it a few open mikes, but quickly dropped it, as it was tired even in 1985.)

The worst thing that could happen to Schumer would be to continue on another week in this competition, as further sets like that only serve to point up just how in over her head she is. It’s time to break out the checkbook and buy some material. (Throw Matt Kirshen a few grand and have him crank out the next set or two.)

Since the last two left were Ralph Harris and Jon Reep, the time came to ditch one.

Whose dreams of winning the title will come to an end? We’ll find out after a spate of commercials for Heineken, Benadryl, Clorox Wipes and T-Mobile.

And, as we already know, it was Ralph Harris.

The slo-mo tribute to Harris, featured none of the video that they no doubt shot in Harris’ hometown of Philadelphia. We wonder why his goodbye package featured none of the Harris clan, but showed Deb DiGiovanni instead? We know that they shot footage back east and we also found out that Harris’ mother is ill. We compliment him for not using the illness to gain sympathy votes.

Harris said, “We’re on national TV as comedians; what more could you ask for?” and he exhorted the audience on hand, and at home, to go to a comedy club and see live comedy. A classy move that displayed both optimism and altruism.

They showed Reep’s journey back to Hick’ry. Then Reep came out and did a confident, high-energy set.

But it was somewhat anti-climactic. Leaving the ouster of one comic to the next-to-last spot seemed somewhat odd. And not at all fair to Reep, since he had to come out and perform just after Harris’ exit. Might they have been better off having all five come out and do sets, then kick one off at the end? The loser gets in America’s face one last time and the tension is preserved until the end. Or just kick off the loser at the outset. Sure, you’d lose the tension, but the tension they had tonight was all jumbled and ambiguous an not at all entertaining anyway.

Josh Blue and Harland Wiliams will perform next week.