Last Comic Standing is back on NBC tonight at 9p after a 4 year break and it is bigger than ever. The Millers’ JB Smoove is taking over the hosting reigns from the likes of Craig Robinson, Bill Bellamy and Jay Mohr. Judging this year are the very respected comedians Roseanne, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Russell Peters. So if you are going to have that caliber of names attached to the show, then the comedians are going to have to be even funnier than they were in past seasons.
Here are some things we can expect from the funniest reality show on television, and some advice from the established comedians who work on the show from a recent NBC Summer Press Day:
The Retooling of the show:
KEENEN IVORY WAYANS: No. Because, as Page said, what’s great about the way that these guys have retooled the show is that you are going to be watching the best of the best of the young comics that are out there. There’s nobody coming on there who doesn’t know what they’re doing. It doesn’t feel amateurish at all. It’s very and I say it’s kind of like “The Voice” where they just went out and got great singers. These guys went out and got great comedians and they’re all going for it. And for us, it’s a delight to be able to sit back and watch these young guys come out and really do their thing, and we might have some advice for them, but there’s never a point where we go, “Oh, man. I need to go up there and do this five minutes.”
RUSSELL PETERS: I know, I think also the last few seasons of the “Last Comic Standing” were more of a popularity contest than they were a talent contest. And the this time it’s more about the talent than it is about how popular. We don’t care how many people in America you made phone in. It’s not about that. It’s about are you funny, can you consistently be funny, and will you be able to hold your own show in the future.
How they got the big names on board:
RUSSELL PETERS: When you know that two standups (Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz) are producing a show about standup, you know it’s going to be presented the right way. It’s not a bunch of suits going, “We should bring this back and we should probably call these people because they seem like the right people.” We weren’t called because, you know, it was a corporate decision. We were called because the right people asked us.
Roseanne on the contestants:
ROSEANNE: It’s also about admiring the level of their craft. It’s taking comedy seriously, if that’s a weird thing to say. To admire the level of these people’s craft it’s like you know, it’s exciting and thrilling, too, to see how they’re going to come out and work it.
The comedians on Social Media:
KEENEN IVORY WAYANS: I think for anyone trying to build a career, social media is important. For comedy itself, absolutely not. It’s actually like the guys who are funny on social media, on Twitter and Instagram and that kind of thing, I want to see you on a stage with a mic. Then I’m going to buy it. I don’t know where the jokes come from when you’re online. I don’t know. It’s not real to me until I see you and a microphone.
ROSEANNE: I enjoy it because I like to provoke people and get them really pissed off, and then it’s like a whole thing of hecklers, which is a part of why I became a standup comic because I like being fast with the retort and the big slam. I mean, I was kind of that’s how I started my comedy. So it was like, “Oh boy. There’s like millions of hecklers,” and it’s like boom when I’m into it. But also the other thing about Twitter that’s not good, people are telling me, is if you are too serious about using your voice on there, and you know, for political and social, you know, things that you care about, it kind of interferes with your funny. So I have I try to do both, and I’d like to get two [accounts], one serious and one funny. But occasionally I really like to slam people, especially you know, there’s a lot of idiots.
How many of the standup comedians are actually funny:
WANDA SYKES: Look at the population. Look at number of men who are doing standup comedy and look at the number of women who are doing standup comedy, and I believe the percentage of who is funny out of those groups, it’s the same, you know, if you look at the percentage. There’s probably 5 percent of men who are funny and 5 percent of women who are doing it who are funny
