(S04E09) We are now in super-filler territory here, folks. A 44-minute broadcast with only 15 minutes of real material (the three five minute sets from the remaining comics) dictates that we see things like: the last four comics introduced one-at-a-time... twice; longer bios of the remaining three comics; a commercial-interrupted elimination "ceremony"; a set by LCS alum Jay London; and a really unfunny set by Caroline Rhea, a synergistic move that NBC used to promote the upcoming season of The Biggest Loser.Oh, and there were two Mel Gibson jokes. One good, one not so good.
The not-so-good one was something Anthony Clark muttered when he came out to a pre-fabricated ovation. "Wow. Who let the dogs out? I'm guessing Mel Gibson." Wha? Anyway, as usual, Clark was jittery and stiff through the whole show, even stammering "this is the hardest part" as he finally said that Michele Balan was eliminated.
(Who was the person with the "Anthony Clark" sign, by the way? His mom?)
Michele's elimination seemed to be the right choice; although her set last week was good, it was the worst of the four. When I was looking at the "look back" at Michele's run, the difference in her look between the beginning of the series and now was stunning. It looked like she was ten years younger in the later rounds. She claims it was a good makeup job by the LCS staff, but I'm thinking otherwise. Anyway, she should be able to ride her 4th place finish to some good bookings, which she's probably doing already.
Jay London was Jay London; lots of one-line Borscht-belt-ish jokes peppered with apologies to the audience. It's an act that gets old, but can still score from time to time, like when he said he was taking medical marijuana to solve a constipation problem, and his doctor told him to "sit or get off the pot." Caroline Rhea... hm. What can I say about her? I've always thought she was adorable, but not all that funny. She did get offa decent line about Gibson, though, calling his new movie, Apocalypto, "a story about the end of Mel Gibson's career."
As far as the remaining comics were concerned, I'll just say this: I think all of them used up their "A" material last week, because all of their sets were weak tonight. Ty Barnett was probably the best of the three, but not by much. He had a good line about people who claim alcoholism and drug addictions are diseases. "A disease is a disease and an addiction is an addiction. No one's ever tried to sell me a bag of tuberculosis." He had a couple of other good punchlines, judging by the crowd reaction, but NBC decided to obliterate them with bleeps. One may have been a swear word, but I think the other was a drug reference. Either way, the viewing audience couldn't hear them, which doesn't help Ty's chances in the voting.
Josh Blue was OK; given how great his Paralympic soccer team stories were last week, this week was going to be the inevitable comedown. His best line? "I'm not a religious man... except when I'm shaving." Overall, his set was chuckleworthy, but nothing to write home about.
The shocker tonight was Chris Porter's set. It was his worst of the series, and may have knocked him out of the competition. He pretty much did the entire set about drugs, doing jokes about talking to people while on mushrooms and other such adventures. But all of his jokes fell flat, and I think he even realized it. He ended his set on a lame line that I can't even remember, one that didn't get one laugh. And the look on his face as he left the stage had the words "Shit, I blew it" all over it.
Maybe he got too cocky; he mentioned in his pre-set bio that he read on the LCS message boards that his set last week sucked. "Then why did I get a standing ovation?" he asks the camera with a straight face. Jeez, Chris. This whole show has been orchestrated from minute one. Do you really think the standing O was completely spontaneous? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if the producers had interns make the signs the audience members held up for each comic. Anyway, this might spell the end for Chris, but he shouldn't fret; he'll get bookings at big clubs from his showing here.
Next week, we go down to two. And the online final two, Theo Von (really?) and Josh Wolf will also perform to see who wins that competition. It's labeled as the "season finale", though I'm not sure what they'll do to announce the winners.
Oh, and we'll get a set from Paul Rodriguez. Wow, it's like it's 1986 all over again! Boy, I'm glad this show's not going another week, because I don't think I could handle seeing Yakov Smirnoff.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-01-2006 @ 11:54PM
Malik said...
I just wanted dto say that I think that Ty is the "Dark Horse" of this show and he SHOULD win...
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8-02-2006 @ 1:06AM
Justin said...
I love Chris and Josh I have been there fans since auditions, as I am sure other people have been as well, but seriously they both blew mass baby chucks tonight, Josh was ok he was trying to do his story telling again but it didn't work out very well, and Chris doing a whole set about one topic especially drugs is sure to kill you. Ty was pretty funny I have to say he definetly was ahead of the rest. Seriously I wanna know what is wrong with Anthony Clark, he has been doing this show and all of his past other cbs and what not shows and hes nervous like shaking I don't get it anyways thats it I hope its Chris and Josh in the final although if based soley off tonight it would be Josh and Ty but we will see.
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8-02-2006 @ 2:42AM
az1324 said...
Clark is totally crashing off something.
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8-02-2006 @ 8:41AM
KMF said...
I thought Chris' set was funnier this time around but at the same time, it was like humour from the 90's. I think they all used up their A material two weeks ago. I think Chris is funny, he's my favourite but I just don't see him winning. I hate to say it but I think he'll probably get eliminated next week, which is a shame.
Ty had me laughing more this week than last week that was for sure, though he too strayed a little into same territory as Chris. And the bleeped out punchline had me wondering what he'd said. Little doubt Ty will win, he stumbles here and there like he's on the brink of forgetting what he was talking about, but he's got the competition all wrapped up.
Josh will put up a good fight, but he's sort of a novelty. He won't win against Ty.
I used to watch Anthony Clark back in the late 80's/early 90's and he was funnier ( like many of the comedians). I think he'd spent way too much time in sitcom land. And Caroline Rhea, I laughed maybe twice, My sister didn't laugh at all. At the end of the set she said "Remember when Rosie had her talk show and it lasted like years? Then she gave to to Caroline and it was gone by the end of the season?" Oh yeah and that set told us why.
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8-02-2006 @ 8:42AM
Ben said...
I thought that it was pretty common knowledge that nearly any time people are holding signs up in the audience (wrestling events, game shows, etc.) that the show makes the signs beforehand and passes them out to people as they walk in the door. I mean, there were at least two professional vinyl banners on LCS last night. Unless they were the comics' families, I seriously doubt they cared enough to make something like that.
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8-02-2006 @ 9:06AM
claireB said...
It's going to Josh and Ty in the finals. What happened to the Chris of the beginning of the show? I agree...his ego got in the way.
But, that's not the big story. What is WRONG with Anthony Clark? I am seriously thinking he might have Parkinson's or something. He's shaking SO badly and looks lost on the stage. I worry during the whole show if he'll make it to the end of the show. Wow....it's really scary.
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8-02-2006 @ 11:59AM
Jim said...
I agree that Chris bombed bad and I found myself not paying attention after the mushroom bit. His material was weak to begin with, but I think he was really rattled from standing next to Michelle during the elimination phase, which Clark drew out like an idiot.
But I really didn't think Ty was that funny either. The end of his set was particularly bad. It had the potential to be funny, but he giggled and his timing was way off. His cousin smoking pot to cure lazy eye is funny, but his delivery was not.
Josh had an off night last week, but he was on a roll yesterday. And what I've seen in the last couple weeks is his ability to mix things up. He doesn't rely on his disability for all his jokes and I think that is very important. He got a good laugh with the global warming joke, but then swung back to cerebral palsy pretty seamlessly. His timing was measured and he kept the audience chuckling when he paused between jokes.
Honestly, I was a little scared after last week's performance because obviously Josh is my favorite. But he sealed it for me yesterday. He's going to win because he's just better than the other two.
My prediction: Josh and Ty in the final, and Josh will win hands down.
And someone remind me, who the $*&# is Paul Rodriguez?
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8-02-2006 @ 12:06PM
niccomm said...
Even my wife, who hates the show and only watched last night because I hid the remote, wondered what was up with Anthony Clark.
And has Jay London written any new material since he appeared on the show? We've heard it all before--the evolution chart joke, the comments to the audience about how the act gets better, the bit about moving from one side of the stage to the other. If that's his A-list material, either he thinks no one has seen him before, or he just doesn't care.
Has anyone ever seen his (non-LCS) stand up act?
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8-02-2006 @ 12:19PM
Donna Yavelak said...
Chris was lame. His drug jokes were boring and did not ven crack (no pun intended) a smile on me. He is so full of himself that he turns me off. Ty is pretty good but Josh had me laughing so hard I was crying! He broke those uneasy taboos about the handicapped by laughing at himself and it was hysterical! Sometimes, seemingly mundane activities to us can be hilariousin someone else's experience. He is easily the best out there this season. His comedic timing is superb.Josh, You're a winner!
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8-02-2006 @ 1:23PM
brian smith said...
This show is getting worse by the minute! What was there more than 15 minutes of real show. And who wants to hear Theo go back to MTV or get a real job. This is supposed to make me watch next week. We all know Gabriel would have blown all these comics away. I thought this was a show about comedians not a melodramtic reality show where if you use a phone like three other people did you get kicked off the show. Chris Porter was my second pick from the start but ever since the last three shows he really has went downhill. I guess my pick will be TY and Josh in the final. Of course I wont be able to watch for a while because I need to find someone who has tivo so I can watch all 10 minutes of the show without all of the other garbage.
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