File under "Grapes, sour"

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 11th, 2004

Way back on March 18, when the Brett Butler/Drew Carey L.C.S. judging controversy blew up, the New York Post’s Page Six ran the following (Photo is of the author of Page Six, who shall remain nameless):

A New York comedy manager whose clients have competed on the show told PAGE SIX that comedy insiders have dismissed the show as a scam ever since stand-up performer Dat Phan won last year. “Everyone thought it was fixed,” said the comedy manager, who asked to remain anonymous. “Dat Phan was awful. This year it looks like it’s going to be just as bad. It’s a shame.” (That floating head there is the author of Page Six.)

Interesting, isn’t it? Mr. New York Comedy Manager “dismissed the show as a scam,” but he no doubt had a client or three go up in front of Mark & Read. But he’s way off the mark if he thinks that the disappointing performance of Dat Phan means that this year’s show will be “just as bad.” If anything, this year’s crop is many times stronger than last year’s merely because an inexperienced comic like Dat Phan (and nearly everyone else in the final six or seven) reaped the rewards of being featured on a highly-rated network television show, which signalled to agents and managers (and, alas, even strippers!) that it was “okay” to appear on the show, win or lose. We’re willing to say that, on balance, standup comedy as a whole has benefitted from the show. (Heck, we even advanced the notion that Rick Rockwell‘s notoriety via Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire was good for live standup!)

The Page Six dude referred to Ant and Gary Gulman as “two of the more comedically challenged contestants who made the final 10,” so, we’re not too happy with him–we worked with Gulman in Boston, at Ed Regal’s Emerald Isle, and he’s hysterical! (And we promise we’ll spell his name with one “l” until someone tells us that two “l’s” is correct.)

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