Last Comic Standing

The other day I was flipping through the channels on the good ol’ tube and I came across the Last Comic Standing program. I thought, well hey this could be good. I was also watching about three other things at the same time, so I would only flip back to it periodically. But I was able to watch a couple of comics. What I found interesting was the reaction of the judges. I don’t really know who the judges were, but they seemed like they were important and that they knew something about comedy. I’m going to start with the second comedian I saw. He was a high energy guy and his routine was basically a re-enactment of a plane fight during world war two. He wasn’t the funniest guy ever, but I think it was more the fact that his material was poor than him being a bad comedian. Even though his material was somewhat lame he still pulled some funny stuff out of it by being a good comedian. During the routine he impersonated a Japanese fighter pilot and he would put on these outrageous looking glasses that played up the Japanese stereo-type. They did look pretty funny. When he did this it showed the judges reaction. They looked at each other with a look of “Oh, this is lame.” At the end of his routine they told him that Japanese jokes are a thing of the 50’s, people did that thing already, it was time to get some new stuff. The crowed booed what they said, apparently they liked the routine.

Now, back to the first routine I saw. This guy was pretty funny, but it didn’t look like the judges were taking to him much either. They had that look on their faces of, “yeah yeah I’ve seen this all before.” So I think he pulled out his trump card. He started to crack jokes making fun of President Bush. At that the judges started rolling, like it was the funniest thing you’ve ever heard. Yeah, the jokes were funny, but it wasn’t as funny as his earlier routine. But these guys loved it. I don’t really know why, they railed on the other guy for using “old material.” Well I have only seen one modern comedian that hasn’t made fun of President Bush in his routine. That’s Brian Regan. Every other comedian that I’ve seen in the past 8 years has always railed on Bush. It’s like comedians don’t know any other way to be funny. I don’t really care what your political stance is or how much you love or hate Bush, but come on, you would think that you could think of something else to make people laugh. But apparently the “Elite” have ordered that only making fun of Bush is funny. If you don’t make fun of him you don’t get to jump into the elite club and you won’t be recognized as an “acclaimed comedian.” So I guess these judges are really pushing their own agenda. It’s OK to make fun of the President, but don’t make fun of the Japanese because then you are a racist and a menace to our Brave New World Society.