Last Comic Standing - June 21 recap

After three hours of audition episodes, NBC’s Last Comic Standing surprised many viewers by being genuinely funny. Could we actually expect more quality comedy from another audition round in New York City? Would Andy Kindler continue his great sartorial suggestions? And how does Greg Giraldo keep his scruff exactly that length all the time? Most of these questions were answered this week.

Host Craig Robinson caught viewers up with a quick “previously on” recap, explaining how the show is conducting “a massive search for stand up genius.” That might be stretching things a little, but after recent seasons we will be ecstatic to get a handful of comics that don’t make us want to claw our own eyes out. This was the final audition episode and it’s simply amazing that the show has found a plethora of worthy candidates, when in recent seasons they couldn’t find even one. This episode unfolded just like last week’s, with a series of tryouts at New York City’s Gotham Comedy Club.

Once again, we saw several solid comics right off the bat, including a few semi-recognizable faces. Kyle Grooms has been on TV a fair amount before, including on several VH1 pop culture specials. He’s a funny guy, and he advanced to callbacks on the strength of his routine about our current “beige” president. Another quality performer that advanced to the showcase was Nikki Glaser, who I just saw in an interesting documentary called I Am Comic, which is about, ironically enough, stand up comedy. She made it to the semis of LCS four years ago and admitted that she wasn’t ready then. She is now, with a confident, polished act. “I think we saw a lot of interesting individuals in New York,” said judge Natasha Legerro. “And the ones that were funny were really funny.”

Sadly, we were still force-fed the obligatory montage of the ones that weren’t funny, including but not limited to clowns, jugglers, and cross-dressers. Andy Kindler seemed to have tired of evaluating the sideshow freaks. “I relate to vulnerability,” he said. “I like a comic who sweats inappropriately.” Another thing that seemed to grate on him was a string of anti-Semitic material. Granted, most of it was done by comics that were Jewish themselves, but that didn’t make him any less sick of it. We saw him react to one Jewish joke after another before he pleaded for mercy from his fellow judges. “If one of the comics tries to round me up, will someone intervene?”

Meanwhile, Craig attended to the patient masses outside again, which this week included a telemarketer, a chef, and a post-op tranny. The talent was diverse on stage as well, where we saw auditions from a vegan, a husband and wife (performing separately), and the 19-year-old brother of comedy legend Chris Rock. Young Jordan Rock wasn’t quite ready for the spotlight, and the judges noted that his material just wasn’t up to par yet. But he was undaunted, promising to return as a funnier, more prepared 20-year-old next season. “The audition process is very difficult,” noted Andy. “I admire anyone that does it well.”

One “comic” who did not audition well was the unfortunate person inside something that resembled a Twinkie mascot costume. This turned out to be a painful advertisement for an upcoming film from NBC’s parent company, Universal. These kinds of product placement sellout stunts are more prevalent than ever now, and they range in tastefulness from mildly obtrusive to entirely offensive. This one fell somewhere in the middle, partially because the judges at least made fun of the whole thing. “Oh wait, this is the product integration audition,” Greg Giraldo noted. NBC’s not paying me, so I don’t need to repeat the copywriting that Natasha plowed through with a big, fake smile on her face like a good solider. Instead, I’ll echo Greg’s sentiments toward his fellow panelists: “Nice work, whores.”

The second New York showcase saw 11 more worthy comics move on to the semi finals. The aforementioned Nikki Glaser got a ticket, as did Kyle Grooms with a very funny and self-deprecating bit about his unintimidating name. “Kyle is a nice name,” he noted, “But it’s not a Mandingo black man’s name.” Carmen Lynch advanced, and judging by my highly unscientific Twitter research of trending topics and retweets, she had one of the most popular sets of the night, referencing her therapist throwing her off by using an odd phrase about being unable to put an egg back into a chicken. “That is the most distracting analogy I’ve ever heard,” she explained. “That’s all I want to do now…I’m going to find a chicken and I’m going to shove an egg into its chicken hole.”

Ryan Hamilton advanced on the strength of a bit that mocked New Yorkers and their perception that anyone between the coasts is located in the Midwest, noting “Everything past Jersey is corn cob pipes and coveralls in your head.” Jerry Rocha was thrilled at receiving a ticket, saying, “This is the only thing I’ve ever won in my life.” Mike Vecchione, Jason Weems, Nick Cobb, and Adrienne Iapalucci all moved on as well, as did the uniquely named Myq Kaplan, who had a strong set about his previous gigs at engineering schools, as well as a very popular bit about his desire to rename the nickname for a certain part of a woman’s anatomy. The final spot went to Brian McKim of the married contestants. His wife seemed genuinely more happy for him than upset for herself, which was nice to see.

And that is where we stand. Craig summed up New York nicely, saying, “We’ve seen a lot of great comics and a lot of things I never want to talk about again.” Auditions are done, and we move directly on to the semi final round next week. Based on the comedians we know have moved on, things look like they are right on track. This isn’t a murderer’s row of comic legends, but rather a group of unique comedians with strong points of view, most of whom seem to be legitimately funny so far. NBC producers could certainly pull some strings and assemble a lineup of finalists exactly the way they want it, but unlike seasons past, right now there doesn’t appear to be a lot of possibility for egregious choices to be made. We have a very solid group of talented comics, and the semi final round should continue to be humorous and entertaining. To this point, the show has been pleasantly devoid of the worst drama that tainted it before. Let’s hope it stays that way.