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Article talks about Ralphie's ailing (now passed on) father and how his dad looked down on him because of his profession, but saw Ralphie in a new light after LCS. At least Ralphie was able to enjoy some time with his pops passed one.
Also shame on everybody that slammed his act... the show must go on and it's no time to criticize or snark on someone's act while they're dealing with a tragedy.
Take a deep breath, count to ten...
Isn't this what we wanted, FORTskateers? For two years, haven't we been complaining about all the silly stunts and created in the editing booth reality-tv moments...we'd been wanting a show that was ALL about the stand-up.
Right?
And this is what that would look like... Ten comics, rushing through an insanely short amount of time...with no guidelines given to the mass audience on how to judge what they're seeing.
It is what it is and we should judge the show on the merits that they've given us...which is a popularity contest that we might hear some funny, if clipped and totally out of context, bits from some funny people... OK by me.
Point One: The choosing of Jessica Kirson.
Glass Half Full Opinion: Assuming that the participants know that the first round is a very short two minutes, the best bet is to choose someone who can generate instant laughs with funny faces and weird noises...rather than someone who works more with clever written material, character development, or other slower-to-cause-a-reaction styles. Not a bad choice considering Jessica had people convulsing in giggles in her first 30 seconds...the problem Jessica has had was when the length of the set increased and the novelty wore off. For longer sets, Marina would have been a better choice.
Glass Half Empty Opinion: In the end, it still comes down to one winner, so don't pick a potential threat... Jessica's style, even if you are amused by her the first time you see her, does grate on people after repeated exposures, and this year's format will definitely show comics and their style over and over again.
Glass is Really a Soviet Agent Opinion: The Season Two Alliance manipulated the vote to get in someone they liked...or maybe Jessica has signed on with one of the executive producers to be her manager...or...oh, who knows? It doesn't matter though because...
Point Two: Performance Reviews
JESSICA KIRSON
...was not very strong. Even considering the limitations of her schtick, I thought that she'd made funnier faces and more amusing sounds during the prelims of season 2 than she did last night. I also felt that she waited for laughs that were just not coming...which caused her to run over time. No deductions from the judges (not after the Paul Hamm fiasco) but it wasn't a very impressive showing.
CORY KAHANEY
...was decent for having to compress a few longer bits into two minutes, especially for Cory who tends to tell stories with multiple punchlines... It almost seemed to me like she was going to do more material about her new baby and her daughter, but felt she could get a few quick laughs in with the lawyer in Macy's bit (which is pretty sweet when she has the time to do the full story in her sets, actually...) Not Corey at her best--but her best really isn't displayed in two minute segments, and I disagree with people who said that she sucked--she didn't suck, she told good jokes and got laughs...she just isn't the type to send the room into a DefComedy Jam style explosion after a phrase or two...and that, it seems, is what a lot of people expect the participants on this show to be able to do...and I don't think that those expectations will be met by who they have. (Pablo Francisco might have been able to generate that...and maybe Ralphie can, if he gets over his loss.) And after Cory gets her kid into a good daycare, I really want to see Cory Kahaney as the wife/mom on a sitcom...please?
JOHN HEFFRON
...was good in a John Heffron-y sort of way. Playing on references and collective remembrances is a great strategy, as long as the crowd you're playing for is in your demographic. High energy always works in short sets, so nicely done, John.
TESS DRAKE
...was ironically in danger of a wardrobe malfunction of her own fine self at the end with the big bow... Did you see NBC cut to a really long shot for theat? The issue with Tess last year was that half of her material was about Tess being positive about her looks...and the other half of her material was about her being negative about her looks...and that caused problems with people's perceptions of her on-stage persona. Tonight, she stayed within her "I'm fabulous" character and I think it worked for her. It's not a style I'm a huge fan of...but I saw a lot of laughing women in the audience reaction shots, so I know that she'll get a bunch of votes from women who relate to her.
TAMMY PESCATELLI
...needs a reality check in that THIS SHOW DID NOT MAKE HER AN IMPORTANT CELEBRITY. Seriously, no one cares what people think about what she did. That's something that Dat Phan's been able to understand--he doesn't comment on people thinking that he didn't deserve to win, he just does his act which a lot of people seem to enjoy. A lot of people seem to enjoy Tammy's act, but the more times she pulls out of her act to talk about her being a famous comedian, the less impressed I get with her. You wanna do the Mob Daughter shtick, fine...I can laugh or not laugh depending on the joke... Complaining about people complaining about a comedy act wasn't all that funny in Lenny Bruce's day and...believe me...Tammy is no Lenny Bruce.
RICH VOS
Rich will always suffer in a setting that doesn't allow him full language rights... His clean material is the just the ice on the top of the ice cream box left in the fridge too long. It's a little gritty, but the yummy stuff is found when you really dig in past that stuff. I've seen Rich a few times and he can roll an audience, even when they don't agree with him...but seeing him on LCS is like watching someone driving a Ferrari trying to parallel park.
TODD GLASS
I like Todd. I think he's goofy and funny. He was goofy and funny tonight. I think it's charming that his act cracks himself up. I love the fact that he obviously doesn't take any of this too seriously. Did he have a good set tonight? Does it matter?
RALPHIE MAY
Wow. As someone who is trying to be a comedian himself, that was hard to watch. I knew that something was up during the bumpers and Ralphie seemed mad...definitely not the super confident, take-on-all-comers, Ralphie that we've known since the earliest LCS days. I know that Ralphie has checked in here in the FORT a few times and I'd hate it if he thought that we all thought he was faking his emotions--that's only the history of reality tv making us cynical. I know that watching it with my girlfriend was a case of "Is this for real?" The tearstains on his face indicated that it was... And believe me, for the other comedians...to try to keep the laughs up after this and be positive about the night must have been hard. Two funny street jokes, told from the heart... A fine tribute for a man, and a brave performance from a saddened clown. I'm not saying that he deserves peoples' votes just for being brave...but even despite the situation, he made me laugh...and that, in this business called show, counts for something.
ALONZO BODDEN
I like Alonzo a lot and I love the fact that he's a strong writer who seems to believe that he can deliver new material even in a pressure situation like this. My girlfriend, however, rolled her eyes when he started talking about beach volleyball... I guess that makes him the anti-Tess. I didn't think he had the best set, but I continue to be impressed with him and I'll definitely check him out if he ever comes to town.
DAVE MORDAL
Disclaimer--I've had the pleasure of performing with Dave and hanging out with him (as well as with Cory Kahaney) so you can accuse me of all the bias you want. And I've heard the "electric cars are magic" and "we wouldn't even have cows" bits before in his full club act. Still, more than anyone else on the stage tonight...he makes me laugh. His writing is perfect, his delivery matches what he's saying...even with his "did Cory and Rich over-mousse him?" hair style...and he's probably the closest to what Jay Mohr was hoping to find when he originally concepted LCS...a wit who can be funny talking about nearly anything at nearly anytime, as well as strong on the mic. Again, he's not high energy--so John Heffron and Dat Phan fans won't love him as much as they should. He's not cuddly, so fans of Gary, Jay, Rob or Dat won't go for him either. But damn this man is funny as all hell...and I hope that someone can harness his comedy as an alternative fuel source when all the jellybeans are gone.
Point Three--The Format
Two minutes is tough. It's half a bit...or five jokes. It's less than the time given to crappy open mic comics at comedy clubs here in Seattle. Of course, everyone has the same rule, so it's fair...but some comics who do better longer might not be around when there's more time for them...
Ten comics was a lot to sit through. Even at only two minutes, it's more than most people are used to.
Having ten people up...and taking votes for all of them, is going to make for some interesting results. We're enjoying ranking people--but you don't get to do a "he was first, she was last" vote...you only got to vote for the people you liked the best. That means, some people in the middle will be in danger. I like Cory Kahaney, but I wouldn't have given her my votes...and I can't imagine people who thought Cory was the best...so I'm guessing she'll be the one with the least votes from Season One. Not necessarily because she was the worst...but because she won't be many people's favorites. That's why I think Dat will do well in this again.
Point Four--No Excuses, But...
We've come to the point where this show is what it is... Makes no sense to complain about the people who are on the show and whether or not they are worthy enough to be there. Makes no sense to complain about conflict of interests or the eventual hijacking of the results by those obsessed enough to vote with all 90 of their e-mail addresses. Makes no sense to complain about Jay Mohr not being a great television presenter. Makes no sense to come on to a message board and hate everyone on the show and everything about the show.
Some of us are watching to see what happens. That's why I'm here, that's why I assume all of us are here.
For the rest...there's always American Chopper.
pg--seattle
PS--Buy the new Patton Oswald cd...awesome!
Originally Posted by astrogirl_2100
For me, Dave Mordal will always be the Last Comic Standing. I personally loved his bit about cows that don't live in the wild.
And the man is just so sexy he even appears in my not exactly pg-13 dreams
. I was glad to read this thread and find out I'm not the only one with a crush on Dave.
Hold on. I like Dave just fine...but don't be having dreams putting the two of us together in a hot tub.
I'm afraid of snakes.
pg--seattle
I like woman comics if they are funny. However, their material was bland, boring and not funny. I hope that whoever of those four survive gets better material the second go around.
Rob Cantrell was right. People don't like women comics.
Apparently I'm alone, but I think Dave is even sexier with his new hair. And I honestly didn't think that was possible.
Funniest points of the night: Alonzo's pedophilia joke (now there's a sentence I never thought I would say), Dave's 'electricity comes from magic' and his whole thing about cows.
Ralphie:Thanks for being a trouper.
I like Jay Mohr.
I think some of you are being too critical. However, I know this is a forum, and everyone has a right to their own opinion. Many people are saying how everyone bombed, or how it wasn't a funny show... I personally think everyone did good. Of coarse some of them did better than others. It's ashame that everyone only had a two minute set. I believe alot of comics would have done much better, with more time.
I really liked John's set, he got all my votes.
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