Last Comic Standing 2: Episode 14
Tammy Pescatelli and Jay London?
by CC McCandless
August 11, 2004
Something miraculous happened en route to the final performances on NBC's Last Comic Standing, something that you rarely see on reality TV, and something that probably comes as a downright shock to most viewers: three worthy, talented, funny comedians reached the finals. It's unbelievable! This show was riddled with cries of "rigged" and "fake" before the audition segments had even ended, and yet we are blessed with three absolutely hilarious guys in the finals. It's unfathomable, really. Jay London couldn't shtick his way into the final three. Ant couldn't get here, despite every attempt by his manager, an exec producer of the show, to weasel him in. And Tammy Pescatelli couldn't make it, despite displaying her ample cleavage for all it was worth while delivering one Sicilian-clichéd joke after another. Nope, none of the hacks crashed the party. The three best comics went the farthest. And all I have to say to everyone who voted is…thank you.
That being said, NBC still had to torture us a bit by turning this into a completely unnecessary two hour show. So they kicked it off slowly at the historic Alex Theater, and speaking of which, exactly how is it historic? Does anyone know anything relevant that has ever happened there? Because I've got nothing. Anyway, we were "treated" to sixty minutes of stuff that was full of more filler than my pillow. We got "best of the worst" highlights of bad comics, and almost all of it was stuff shown during the casting episodes. We got Bob & Ross cringing after the thirty-seventh Governor Arnold impression. We got the weird "take my wife please" guy with the TV monitor. We got comics who didn't know to speak into the microphone. And we got the picture…when we saw all of this before.
A few performers that didn't advance were brought back for no apparent reason. Was anyone really clamoring for another performance from Grandma Lee from Tampa? Or Marina Franklin? Now, Jim Norton, I can see. This guy absolutely would have been on the show if not for his unfortunate contractual obligation. And I still miss getting the chance to see him make Ant cry. So they gave him a courtesy set here, one in which he clearly toned down his material for the national TV crowd. It was still pretty good.
Next were some outtakes from the roast show in Beverly Hills, arguably the funniest episode of the season. John Heffron observed how the place felt "very retirement homeish" and we got a few more funny lines, as well as reaction shots of unimpressed octogenarian friars. Then we got the comics getting stir crazy in the house, the comics doing impressions of each other ("thank you…thank you…thank you") and, finally, THANKFULLY, we got Todd Glass and company bagging on the most tired, overused, unfunny joke all season-Ant's brutal line about his San Francisco accent and not needing Scooby Doo to figure out that mystery. So I'm not the only one that feels this way. Ahh, sweet validation. Gary also deemed Ant's fake laugh "a little excruciating to listen to." Just like Ant's act.
We also received some insight into which members of the house had feelings for the others. Ant admitted that he found Jay London cute, who said that he liked Tammy. Oh, the horror. Imagine if Jay and Tammy had a child that became a stand-up comic. Talk about the worst of both worlds. "So I'm Sicilian…thank you…I've got these two Joe Pesci uncles…it will all be over soon, ma'am…I shot a pilot. I SAID, I shot a…" Anyway, nothing came of any of these crushes from the looks of things…except maybe Gary and his self-described "man crush" on Todd Glass. But we'll just leave that one alone.
Finally, it was time for the performances. Jay Mohr took one for the team by delivering an absolutely brutal warm-up set. Not funny at all, and I'm a fan of his. He had to be doing it to help out the three finalists, but they didn't need the assistance. I won't break down their sets for you because it just wouldn't do them justice. They were all good, and any one of them deserves to be the Last Comic Standing. Personally, my vote went to John Heffron, if only because I am absolutely this guy's target audience. I have loved his energy and attitude week in and week out throughout the season, and you never knew what he was going to bring to the stage but you knew it would be fresh, exhilarating, and funny. The three finalists are going out on the road together, and I eagerly look forward to catching them live because they all represent what is great about stand-up comedy. Any one of them will make a great winner.
Now don't even get me started on the possibility of having to watch Ant again in season three, which starts in less than a month…
C.C. McCandless is an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. He has a Bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
You can contact C.C. here: ccmcc33@msn.com
