The first ten semi-finalists were chosen during the first episode of Last Comic Standing last night.
The format of the show is much different than I remember (although I only watched the first few seasons) but gone are the audition portions and early round, American Idol-like buffoonery that usually makes reality talent competitions so ugh-inducing.
For the first episode of Last Comic Standing, it was all killer and just a little filler, but all of the comics who performed were incredibly strong. Except for that dude Ben. I got his angle, but, he had to know he’d get called out for it by the judges. I’d like to have seen his entire act.
Here’s a list of the ten comics who survived the first round of cuts on Last Comic Standing.
Tracey Allison
Joe Machi
Rod Man
Dave Landau
Aida Rodriguez
Dana Eagle
Erin Jackson
Mike Veccione
Jasper Redd
Tyree Elaine
Lachlan Patterson
Jimmy Shubert
5 early favorites from last night’s ‘Last Comic Standing’ premiere
Alright, it’s way too early to speculate on who’ll evolve into stellar stand-ups and who’ll make it into the late rounds, but based on the performances of last night here are my five early favorites for a long run on Last Comic Standing.
Dave Landau
Dave Landau kicked off Last Comic Standing night and nailed it out of the gate. “Sarcastic and edgy” was Russell Peters remark about Landau. He’s got the every man appeal and poked fun at familiar topics like marriage and having kids which always do well with audiences. Landau seems like the kind of middle-of-the-pack comic who might not destroy ever week of the competition, but he won’t deliver an awful enough performance to make the audience say “oh, he’s got to go.”
Rod Man
“Odd man” would be just as apropos a nickname for this hilarious comic because his premises are odd, but familiar, and he’s able to spin simple concepts into sharp bits of comedy. His material on the absurdity of grocery stores is dead-on. Even if he doesn’t go far on Last Comic Standing, I expect to see much more of Rod Man on the comedy scene.
Lachlan Patterson
Patterson is funny. There’s no denying it. But he’s also got a few other things going for him — he’s attractive, tall, a surfer and has an odd first name (trust me, it helps). He’s basically the first “character” chosen for every reality show cast. Last Comic Standing is a show about finding the next great stand-up BUT the producers still have to cast a reality show. Lachlan hits all the common boxes for the typical reality show contestant. “Did we cast the tall, white, good looking dude yet? Well, we did now!” Hopefully he’s got a ton more buffet material.
Dana Eagle
Keenan Ivory Wayans might have nailed it with his observation of Eagle being a “female Woody Allen” but that’s in looks alone. While Allen and Eagle both make themselves the butt of the joke, Eagle is much more critical and touches on personal insecurities that Allen himself might even fear to discuss. Eagle is self-deprecating and hilarious. Two things every comedy crowd loves and two things Last Comic Standing audiences will probably grow to love.
Joe Machi
Machi is a favorite for this season of Last Comic Standing for two reasons — the first is he arguably got the best crowd and judge response of the night. The second reason is a little more personal. A few months ago, I did a stand-up show in New York called Hot Soup. Joe Machi was one of the comics I performed with that night. I’d never seen or heard of him before but a minute into his set I said to myself “this guy is going to be big.” Even comics have an “it” factor — that indescribable thing that put a person on a whole other level. Now, to be fair, the stuff I saw on TV was the exact stuff I saw live that night. I don’t know if Machi has more but I’m betting we haven’t seen anything yet.
So what do you think of the first ten semi-finalists on Last Comic Standing? Did the judges make solid choices? Did someone get screwed? Who should/shouldn’t have made it?