A modest proposal to the producers of Last Comic Standing: How about, once you get down to the final three performers, you give them more than 12 minutes total to perform?

You would figure that since the remaining comics are fighting for their professional futures, the show would want to give them a little bit more time to showcase their talents. The winner gets a comedy special on Bravo, after all, so it might be nice to figure out if he has more than five minutes of material to put forth.

Alas, unless you have a DVR and editing software, you won't have that chance. Because in Wednesday's hour-long show, the remaining three comics got four minutes each, while we, the audience, had to sit through pointless taped pieces about the final three's old jobs and performances by two comics who have no stake in the competition, Harland Williams and season four winner Josh Blue.

I've never been a fan of Williams' stand-up, so that was a forgettable few minutes. And I still think Chris Porter wuz robbed last year, but Blue at least made me chuckle a couple times. His closer about his palsied arm accidentally voting Republican -- "You know we need a stem cell" -- was pretty good.

Why not, instead of all that, have the final three comics do longer sets and let the audience get a better idea of how they manage their material and work a crowd? Why not give them six or eight, even 10 minutes? Four minutes is hardly time even to warm up.

Enough of the ranting, and on to the spoilers. (That'd be your cue to turn away, delayed viewers.)

The final three are Gerry Dee, Lavell Crawford and Jon Reep. It's not a big surprise that Amy Schumer, the last woman in the competition, got the boot; she just seemed a little nervous last week, and that doesn't play too well. Still, I'd rather she have stayed than Reep.

Gerry is up first, and he's back on his game after faltering a little last week. He mines familiar men-vs.-women territory, but his take on how we each handle nights out felt at least a little fresh, as did his creative use of Onstar to avoid a DUI (I'm sure the company is thrilled with that bit of product placement).

Lavell goes second, and he brings less funny this week for me. He goes a little blue, which doesn't seem to be the right choice when you know your words are going to get bleeped, and he lingers too long on a visit to the doctor. The only thing that really scores for me is something of a throwaway joke about the reaction he gets when he orders diet soda.

Jon closes, and boy, he's a character, isn't he? His bit about the reactions of Angelenos to his accent wasn't bad, but the rest of the bit was a little unfocused, ending up with his dad accidentally shooting their waterbed. He's been at or near the bottom for most of the audience-voting portion, and I think he's likely to be headed home next week.

That would leave a final two of Gerry Dee and Lavell Crawford. They've been the two most consistently funny performers this season, so if that happens, that's about the way it should be. But as I see it, this is Gerry's contest to lose.

Who had you chuckling Wednesday? Can Jon pull it out and make the finals?

Comments

As the absence of comments here demonstrates, LCS has lost whatever buzz it may have once possessed. Alloting only four minutes per comic last night is just one of the show's many errors in how it presents itself. I did not think it possible, but LCS makes AIdol look filler-free!

I have watched this show to enjoy the variety of new comics it presents. But I now realize the laughs-per-minute-of-viewing-time is terribly low.

Next summer, when I feel the urge to tune in to LCS, I'm going to visit a local comedy club instead. I am sure I will be glad I did.

Too few laughs | Sep 6, 2007 9:47:09 AM | #

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Amy gone and I'm done. Lavell just isn't funny to me. So thats it, LCS is off of my DVR!

Jo | Sep 6, 2007 10:04:14 AM | #

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Lavell's "joke" about dinner and a movie before a rectal exam...hasn't that been done about 1,000 times before? I think I make that joke everytime I have my annual physical.

Dan | Sep 6, 2007 1:19:18 PM | #

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For the most part I find Lavell funny. However, last night just didn't do it for me. It was disconcerting to hear him get bleeped, and at times I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Also, he kept laughing at his own jokes, which is just such a no-no. I don't think Gerry Dee is the funniest comic to come down the pike, but he has at least been consistently funny.

Teresa | Sep 6, 2007 2:42:33 PM | #

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I've picked Gerry to win this thing from the beginning and it looks like I was right. Yay me! He makes me laugh the most every week and he is the most deserving. Did anyone notice how Lavell repeated that diabetes joke. He already used that one back in the beginning. Guess he's running out of material.

Linda | Sep 7, 2007 10:18:16 AM | #

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I cant stand Reep, Schumer should have stayed longer. It should come down to Dee (my pick at the beginning...go Canada) and Crawford. Lavell is pretty funny when you can understand him which isnt often. Is it just me or is he getting bigger?

C | Sep 10, 2007 10:46:27 AM | #

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Dee's gone, and the unintelligible Lavell will probably take home the prize.

Is America really voting for this guy? Im interested to hear what other folks have to say about last nights episode.

ben | Sep 13, 2007 6:02:11 AM | #

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