Last Comic Standing 8, The Ellen DeGeneres Talk Show Challenge

Does this look like a guy about to be eliminated from Last Comic Standing?

No. And I don’t mean JB Smoove, either, because he’s the host. But DC Benny thought he’d have a safe time cruising into the final seven or farther in this eighth season of Last Comic — he and several other finalists voted to challenge Lachlan Patterson in head-to-head stand-up before a live audience and the judges at The Comedy Store.

But first!

This week’s challenge had the eight remaining stand-up comedians vying for a chance to appear on Ellen. Well, maybe not in the way you and I think of an appearance on Ellen. Because you would have remembered seeing Monroe Martin, Nikki Carr and Rod Man talking to Ellen DeGeneres on your daytime TV this spring if you had. Those three comedians were picked after all eight talked on the phone with an Ellen segment producer for a pre-interview — standard practice for talk shows to figure out what a guest might want to talk about on a talk show so the host can lead them into a prepared bit or story.

Was it just me or did everyone seem much better in those pre-interviews than on the actual show? Then again, since none of the comics had ever been on a TV talk show, perhaps nerves affected what they eventually did talk about with Ellen, on Ellen. Last Comic host JB Smoove told Ellen’s audience that they’d pick the winner.

Rod Man won the challenge and immunity, most likely due to his ability to incorporate his wife and her love for Ellen into the discussion — which included a video Rod Man’s wife sent in trying to get the couple booked! — endearing him to the audience.

Patterson had to pick from the people who voted against him, and picked DC Benny, saying that Benny’s challenge implied that the audience would be treated “to a great show, so let’s give it to them.”

From what we saw, Benny chose to tell one story about going out for sushi with his wife and the consequences that ensued from “unagi power”! Patterson joked a lot about the Internet, online porn and online passwords. Comments from the judges — Keenen Ivory Wayans, Russell Peters and Roseanne — seemed to indicate that they felt Benny rushed his set (which makes sense when you consider he’s a headliner trying to cram in a five-minute set), while they all loved Patterson. Was that the tiebreaker?

Here are their full challenge performances, so you can see who you’d pick as your winner.

Regardless, DC Benny does have a second chance in the Last Comic “Comic Comeback” competition with online voting. This week, he’s up against returning “Comic Comeback” champ Alingon Mitra. Go to the LCS Comic Comeback page to watch their new sets and place your votes before next week’s TV episode!

Here is the full episode:

https://www.hulu.com/watch/660117

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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