Last Comic Standing: The Final 7 Comedians are Chosen
Yeah, they did it to me again on LCS – I like about half of the comedians chosen tonight. But first, let me call out Richard Belzer, former comedian. Heath Hyche did a fairly funny skit about World War II. I would imagine Belzer is old enough to remember that war first hand. Anyhow, Heath did a US pilot vs. a Japanese pilot bit. The Japanese pilot had squinty eyes and an accent, in other words, it was a stereotype. But you know what, a lot of comedy plays on stereotypes, no? Belzer let the guy have it, saying his humor was from the 40s and that he was offended by it because he was “allergic to ethnic stereotypes.” Okay, so he didn’t like the bit, but really, was that necessary to call out a guy who made it to the finals over hundreds and hundreds of other comedians? And, if Belzer was such a judge of great comedy, why is he doing “Law & Order” now? Has he done any standup in the last 25 years? Then, as if that weren’t rude enough, Steve Schirripa tells Heath that if he had to watch 45 minutes of his act, he’d commit hari cari. Yes, that is Steve Schirripa, the comic genius from that sidesplitting show, “The Sopranos.” Who thought these guys would make good judges?
Okay, had to get that off my chest. Now the first comic chosen for the final 12 was Marcus. I personally didn’t care for his Willy Wonka set as I don’t like the movie, but based on his Christopher Walken impersonation alone, I am okay he is in the finals. The next comedian chosen was Jim Tavare, the British guy with the “violin” as he calls it. He is funny, so I am okay with that choice. Next up was Esther Ku, who did a whole set on ethnic stereotype, but Belzer deemed that okay if it is your own people you are talking about. Take away her cute short skirt and add 50 pounds to her frame and I don’t think Esther would have made it to the finals – she is the “cute, funny” girl this year. Next up was Papa CJ. He was okay, but I didn’t think he was funnier than Bob Biggerstaff. Dan Cummins, and I definitely didn’t think he was funnier than Pete Lee, who all missed making the final cut.
The next comedian called out was Sean Cullen. Boy, I hope he has more to show me because a) I don’t remember him from the auditions and b) most of his three minutes tonight was on a mildly amusing song called “You’ve Got a Friend in Porn.” Not impressed yet Cullen, you’d better show me something next week. The next comedian called was Iliza Shlesinger – she was my like fifth favorite tonight, so I’m okay with that. But I was about to become angry because the funniest guy of the night – the only one tonight who almost had me laughing so hard I cried – was Louis Ramey and his name had not been called. Finally, he was called as the last comic going through.
Right now, my two favorites are Louis Ramey and Paul Foot. That could change if a few of the comics show me some really, really funny stuff next week. My overall thought about this year’s top 12 comics is “Eh.”
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July 4th, 2008 at 9:53 am
I totally agree that Belzer and Schirripa calling out Heath was wrong. I mean who thinks of these guys when you mention comedy? Also when did comedy become politically correct. Think of Murphy, Carlin, Attell, Bar, Carrington, Lawrence, and the list goes on. Heck, look at Family Guy, South Park, and the Simpsons. I’ve seen Heath’s act in person several times over the years and he is brilliant. As for some of the comedians that where chosen, Drew Carey already said it years ago, “I thought it was crooked and dishonest. It was like somebody at NBC cast the show ahead of the event in Vegas”.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I’m sorry, but I think he totally deserved the boot.
I found his ethnic stereotyping to be offensive and tasteless. And quite frankly, I find it disappointing that the audience and other viewers ate it all up.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:57 am
This is the only blog that I’m responding to, as the author of this blog is the only one who needs to get a clue. Yes, plenty of jokes are based upon ’stereotypes’ but there is crass tasteless stereotypes and good humored ones. Obviously, you can’t tell the difference. I bet you would defend somebody who put on black face and said “yesa masta.” Get a clue. This wasn’t funny, it was racism at its worse. Reality-tv-online really needs to have an attitude adjustment if this is acceptable. (BTW, this is the only cite out of the 20 or so that I looked at that didn’t call the acts what they were.)
July 8th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I never said Heath didn’t deserve the boot – I said he didn’t deserve to be treated so rudely by Belzer and Schirripa after making it to the semi-finals and forgive me, but I don’t see how Schirripa’s hari cari comment was any less offensive as a stereotype.
Belzer of all people should know how tough it is up on that stage, but apparently he’s been away too long. Heath made a poor skit choice, but Belzer could have handled it differently. And even though Belzer said it was okay, I found Esther Ku’s routine, which was filled with nothing but stereotype jokes against her own race, a bit boring.