Last Comic Standing
Aug 22nd, 2010 by craig
For a few years now I’ve wanted to like the television show Last Comic Standing. I’ve been interested in the entertainment form (comedy) and follow some of the nationally known comedians, primarily through radio and television appearances. However, Last Comic Standing just never was able to hook me, struggling through several years of format changes and weak participants. Never the less, I thought this season might be the one I could get into, primarily because instead of going with a more amateur type approach they used veteran comedians. In fact, of the ten finalists, I knew of and was quite familiar with four of them, Tommy Johnagin, Rachel Feinstein, Roy Wood Jr, and Laurie Kilmartin. I actually thought this year the show would rock.
So I tried to watch a few times. It was difficult; the segments were so short it was hard to feel like any of the performances were strong. For the most part the judges were good, with the exception of the one judge that no one has ever heard of. The public voted each week on who got to stay, which I initially thought would be a good idea. However….
I’m not going to mess with Last Comic Standing anymore. Last week on their morning radio program Bob and Tom interviewed the final two comics, runner up Tommy Johnagin and the winner, Felipe Esparza. While it is true that Bob and Tom didn’t know Felipe as well as they know Tommy, I believe the contrast of the two illustrate very well why I’m giving up on Last Comic Standing. Remember while you’re listening to these clips, Tommy Johnagin lost to Felipe Esparza.
(Editor’s note: each of these clips is about 3 1/2 minutes. If you’d like to hear the entire Tommy Johnagin clip – about 21 minutes – let me know and I’ll get it to you.)
Bob and Tom – Felipe Esparza segment
Bob and Tom – Tommy Johnagin segment
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