We’ll Be the Judge of That! – Last Comic Standing 6, July 17

Three more comics fought it out with only one surviving. Do the Foxes On Idol judges, David Bloomberg and Wesley Rice, think the right person won? Or were they even watching the same show?

Paul Foot

David: Before I start talking about Paul’s performance this time around, I feel I should mention that I have never really liked or “gotten” Paul. I like British comedy, so it’s not that. But I don’t like Paul Foot. I still have no idea how he made it to the finals. But here he was, performing for his life on the show. So how did he do? He was his usual manic self, walking around the stage and, as the other comics mentioned, seeming rattled. I even noticed him nervously looking at his watch at one point, as if he was thinking, “Oh crap, I’ve been doing this for three minutes and I’ve only actually told two jokes – and neither of them were funny!” Or maybe that was my inner voice saying that about him. Needless to say, I still don’t like him.

Wes: The mulleted one comes out with some clever material about annoying early risers and the horrible taste of beer, both of which I could relate to very well. I thought the hallway bit was pretty hilarious too. Unfortunately, the delivery was just a little too spastic, and I think that if he’d been able to reel that in just a bit he would have had time for several more good jokes in his bit. B.

Iliza Shlesinger

David: Iliza’s female coach jokes immediately had me laughing more than any of Paul’s jokes, though that didn’t really take much. She followed up with jokes about Oregon Trail, which if you’re as old as I am, the only way you know about that computer game is through having kids who played it. Even then, I barely know anything about it. Still, she made it work okay, though I do think she should have gone with a broader topic. We’d seen her jokes about why she gave up drinking before, but that was just a few jokes. The waterpark jokes were okay, but not great. I wasn’t laughing hysterically.

Wes: I like how Iliza took concepts from American life and built her set around them. I may have never played Oregon Trail myself as a child, but I think it’s enough of a pop culture icon from the ‘80s that the jokes still made sense, and the bacon bit was just brilliant. I’m still not entirely sold on Iliza, but she’s coming on strong. And her set improved on already solid material from the previous week. B+.

Papa CJ

David: I like Papa CJ, and have throughout the competition. Despite the fact that I’m sure he made the guy in the front row uncomfortable by singling him out for the gay jokes, I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help myself – it was funny! He took a turn for the worse after his jokes about how Indians control computers and phone systems, but tried to turn it around with his jokes about being reincarnated. The audience seemed to like it, but this is the third time we’ve heard those. At this point, I can tell them word for word. Same with his ending. And I should note that telling the audience you “don’t give a crap” about whether you’ve upset them isn’t really a good way to get votes – as he found out. Still, I think his set overall was funnier than Iliza’s.

Wes: Papa CJ is one of the two comics that I was truly shocked made it into the Final 12 (the other was Ron G). His delivery is just so stilted. And he can’t blame that on being from India, because he sounds just fine in the house. That said, I think he started out with the best joke of the night suggesting L.A. was part of Mexico. After that it was a precipitous drop. Some of his “jokes” were simply insulting. And I don’t care how funny you think it is, if you repeat the same material three times in a row, you’re far too limited a comic for this competition, Papa. F.

Final Thoughts

David: First, a few random thoughts on the episode. The prop comedy bits were generally pretty good. But it looked like Carrot Top has had some bad plastic surgery! Ugh.

Moving to the results, I would also have put Paul Foot at the bottom of the list and Papa CJ at the top, but I can totally see how the audience would pick Iliza instead. Even in my own mind, she wasn’t far behind. Twice in a row – Iliza should be flying high emotionally right now. But as for me and Wes, well, we couldn’t have disagreed more on Paul and Papa!

Wes: The right person won again. Of course, her competition so far has been mediocre at best. I’ll be interested to see what type of material she has in reserve for the experienced competitors like Louis Ramey and Sean Cullen. Meanwhile, I’m pleased to see Papa leave. I haven’t been that uncomfortable watching standup since Roz went on her bitch-a-thon in Season 5. And Paul Foot? Well, in a three-way fight, there’s always some collateral damage.

Wesley is a writer and English/drama teacher from Wichita, KS. He can be reached with questions, comments, or snide remarks at musnud@gmail.com. David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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