Last Comic Standing is a reality show on NBC that originally premiered in 2003, and was produced by Peter Engel. On the show, comedians go through the audition stage where they do a small skit. If they make it through, they get a callback to do another, larger, routine in front of a live audience. The semifinalists that have been chosen for a callback are divided into two groups and they perform their skit against each other. The studio audience votes for their favorites and the ones that make it get to move into “the house.” When in the house, the comedians have to partake in weekly challenges, such as performing skits in a laundromat or working as a tour guide in Los Angeles.
The winner of the challenge gets immunity for the week as the housemates have to go into a video booth and declare who they think they are funnier than. After they watch these video clips together, the comedian with the most votes picks one person to battle against in a head-to-head challenge. They later perform for a studio audience, and once again, the studio audience votes for their favorite. The losing comedian goes home. They do this until there are only five contestants left. Once they are down to five, the audience at home gets to begin voting for their favorite comedian each week. They are voted off one by one until there is only one “Last Comic Standing.”
The first season of Last Comic Standing was hosted by comedian Jay Mohr. It introduced us to comedians, Ralphie May, Rich Voss, and of course, the very first Last Comic Standing, Dat Phan. We were also introduced to Buck Star, who has been seen continuously throughout the audition shows, following the talent scouts, Ross Mark and Bob Read around the country. He started each of his performances with the growingly famous line, “Welcome to the Buck Star Show!” Season two brought names such as Alonzo Bodden, who has sat in as a celebrity judge, Gary Gulman, and winner, John Heffron. Buck Star continued showing up at auditions, and they finally gave him a callback.
He didn’t, however, win the audience over, so he was sent home. Season three began right after season two. It was a face off between the best comedians from season one and season two. Alonzo Bodden took home the title Last Comic Standing in this one, a jump from his runner-up position in season two. Season four took a new host, Anthony Clark. Chris Porter, Ty Barnett, and Josh Blue were the final three. Josh Blue, a comedian who wanted to show the world what people with disabilities could do if they wanted to, took home the grand prize, by poking fun at his own disability, Cerebral Palsy.
Season five is set to premier on Wednesday, June 13th, with a two hour show. The show is still being produced by Peter Engel, but will start up with their third host in the last three seasons, Bill Bellamy from MTV’s Who’s Got Jokes, a reality show similar to Last Comic Standing. This summer, the talent is international, with auditions in London, Montreal, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and Tempe. Former Last Comic Standing comedians have stepped in as talent scouts, traveling the world to find the next Last Comic Standing.
