Last Comic Standing Tour Hits Charlotte

So tonight we finally went to the “Last Comic Standing” live show for which I bought tickets about 3-4 months ago before the finalists were even chosen. I was that confident that I’d like whoever made the finals (except Papa CJ – I’m SO glad he didn’t crack the top five).

We had great seats – fourth row center. Close enough to see ’em sweat if they bomb. Fortunately, none of them did.

First up was Louis Ramey. Now, Louis was my favorite at the beginning of the season. I picked him as the winner. So imagine my shock when he got booted in the fifth position. He was seasoned, polished, had great timing and delivery and good material. I think the problem is that the show just didn’t show him ENOUGH and so no one voted for him.

Tonight he did much different material than was ever shown during the season. Much more adult material. While I wish he had done some of his other stuff, I still laughed at 90% of his jokes tonight.

Next up with the fourth place finisher, Jim Tavare. While I wasn’t a HUGE fan of his during the show, his material tonight was fun (especially his bit about the musical instrument we love and hate – the recorder). And, little known fact: he played the tavern owner in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” – had no idea!

Third up was the ever-adorable Jeff Dye. He’s a new young comic that became the heart throb of this past season. And he certainly is scruffy and cute. I also think he was a bit drunk/high when he came onstage. But I could be wrong – it may just be the way he is. Either way, he was quite funny and quirky and fun to watch. And strange as this may seem given the fact I just said I think he was high onstage, I think he has a Christian background. At some point he was making a joke about Amy Grant and sang a song that ONLY someone who listened to hardcore Christian music would know. I doubt he took the time to RESEARCH a song to use in the act, which makes me think he actually at one time listened to Christian music on a regular basis. Before he started smoking the pot, that is (or drinking the Coors, as he talked about in his act).

The next act took me by surprise. I thought he was funny during the season on TV, but felt he was kind of one note. He LOVES doing his Christopher Walken impression and did it ALL THE TIME on the show. So I feared he couldn’t do anything more than that. The finale of the show proved me wrong – he was VERY funny during his set on the season finale of “Last Comic Standing” and it gave me hope. Well, he proved me RIGHT because he was so good tonight that if he ever comes back to Charlotte I absolutely will try to go see him.

The final act of the night was the winner of the show, Iliza Schlesinger. Now, on the show she became the favorite because the other comedians kept picking her to go up against in the comedy battles – and she kept winning. Because of that, fans of the show kept voting for her. I think part of the reason she won is that she became the main focus of the season because she kept having to prove herself on stage. Some of the other comedians (Louis Ramey) never even really got to show his stuff on stage like Iliza. Tonight she did a lot of material that was shown on the show, which was slightly disappointing (especially coming after Marcus, who had 95% brand new material). However, she’s super-cute and fun to watch because she’s a very physical comedian.

The most surprising thing of the night? The meet and greet afterwards. After last year’s show the comedians were swamped at the meet and greet. But this year very few people stopped by the comedians’ table. I think part of it is that last year as Ralph Harris closed the show he made a point of saying, “We’re going to be upstairs signing autographs and selling stuff, so come and say hi,” thus causing it to be a mob scene. This year no such announcement was made. So instead of say, 300 people trying to shake hands and take pictures, they only had about 75. It was strange how quickly it cleared out. It enabled me to take pictures with the comedians without feeling rushed by the person behind me (because by the time I got to Jeff Dye there WERE no other people around).

LAst thing worth noting? Click on the link for last year’s show – look at the difference in ME. Those pictures reflect me at my heaviest. The ones from tonight show my 35 pounds gone thus far really making a difference. WOO HOO!!! Also worth noting: I have a much better cameraphone now, too.

All in all it was a fun night out and the babysitter said the kids did well (it was a new babysitter tonight – the roommate of our usual sitter). And now? I’m off to bed! I’s tired.