Last Comic Standing, Season 8, Episode 2 of “The Invitationals” RECAP

Hey, comedy fans! We’re back with the second episode (and third hour) of the eighth season of Last Comic Standing! What have we missed?

Recap of the recap by the voiceover, and now to the new comics!

Here is the full episode on Hulu (where available)

https://www.hulu.com/watch/642349

TONY BAKER (FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) Jokes about his son wanting a gym membership when he’s only 14, and being competitive and not intimidated. Which segues into a bit about being interrupted in the shower, and slight homophobia? Well, what if your nakedness touches another person’s nakedness? #MonopolySlumlord is what #LastComic wants me to type, so type it I shall. Am I doing it right? Keenen said it was fun, but wants more details. Roseanne liked hearing a dad intimidated by being replaced. Russell said you cannot fake what Tony has. Sounds like a good start.

ALINGON MITRA (PROFILE PREVIEW, FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) is a tax consultant by day who went to Harvard, and we see him walking up toward the Hong Kong and the Comedy Studio! And no, tax consulting isn’t funny. “My parents haven’t seen my act yet because I haven’t let them.” So he lets them for this. At the Comedy Studio. Hi, Mehran! Hi, Mrs. Jenkins! As for Mitra, he jokes about being confused by ignorant racists who don’t know he’s Indian. But he’s attracted to all types of women. He doesn’t “eat the banana from both ends,” which means something different where he’s from. So why doesn’t he just tell his parents the truth? Russell Peters was worried about another Indian “but you came out swinging right away” so congrats! Keenen worried “I had the expectation that you were going to do a bunch of culture jokes” and if you’re wondering if Russell noticed, because that’s what his bread and butter is buttered with, he did. “What’s wrong with that?” Hey. Not all about you, buddy. Roseanne liked him just fine.

DC BENNY (FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS, POST-SET COMMENTS) grew up in D.C., so that explains that? He lives in Brooklyn now, where he sees guys on heroin doing “tai chi” and auditioning for parts as a drug dealer. “I’m going to cut you good!” The judges like him. Roseanne mentions he’s been doing comedy for 20 years and it shows. Hey, don’t tell people he’s old. Actually “DC” stands for “dis close” to making it, he tells us!

KELLY PRYCE (PROFILE PREVIEW, FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) says she has done comedy for 11 years and mother of four kids, from 11 down to baby, and her husband has a savings account. Jokes about being from Sacramento but living in Los Angeles, and trying to fit in as a natural woman, and not a “unicorn no one wants to have sex with.” And yet. Four kids. Fact-checking! With her husband, she role plays and their outfits aren’t up to snuff. Roseanne likes her but thinks the construction of her set was off. Kelly Pryce acknowledges she was awkward? Keenen says to “establish truth on stage.” Ooohhh! He was fact-checking, too! They’re all very encouraging to her, though.

RANDY LIEDTKE (FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) opens with an unemployed dick joke! How dare a waitress bring him the lumberjack breakfast before he even orders! Will each one of his jokes end with a walk-off ovation? Stay seated. Them’s his words. “Stay seated.” Funny jokes. Funny approach. Roseanne thinks he’s “odd” and says “you need to start smoking some” after asking if he smokes pot. Keenen says “you’re not traditional” and “silly is OK if you’re funny” and phew, he’s both. Russell says his overselling the puns has him sold.

Why is Vinnie Brand backstage yelling at everyone?

VINNIE BRAND (PARTIAL SET) jokes he’ll keep having kids until he gets one he likes.

Here is his full set online:

MIKE LAWRENCE (PARTIAL SET) jokes about naming one of the lions in The Lion King Scar. Such a shame we don’t get to hear a full set out of Lawrence! Maybe next time?

Here is his full set online:

HAMPTON YOUNT (PARTIAL SET) jokes about online dating and your fears, men fear a woman who doesn’t look like her photo, while women fear MURDER!

EMILY GALATI (PARTIAL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) jokes that Arizona doesn’t know the Mexican-American War is long over. And she has sound reasoning why Arizona is so racist, though, you guys! Is she from Arizona? We have to talk. Roseanne liked her set a lot!

CHLOE HILLIARD (PROFILE PREVIEW, FULL SET) She grew up in South Williamsburg, before the hipsters, but definitely not before the Hasidic Jews who surround her parents home! She says in the preview that she doesn’t like to joke about our differences because “it cheapens everybody.” Then she opens with a joke about not realizing her differences until she didn’t get a Bat Mitzvah at 13. Then she jokes about how we act like royalty when we stay in a hotel, no matter how cheap the hotel. Keenen wants more about the Jewish neighborhood! Russell reveals the notes tell him she’s only been doing comedy for three years. Keep it up! Roseanne loved it.

GERALD KELLY jokes backstage that he is cursed with eyes that mean he doesn’t have to go to the gym. (BACKSTAGE, PARTIAL SET, PARTIAL JUDGES) Keenen mentions some of his bits weren’t as funny as others, but we didn’t see the other jokes, so how are we to judge?

Well, now here’s his full set to judge!

KEITH ALBERSTADT (PARTIAL SET) jokes about how he wouldn’t like his chicken as much if he knew how it was made.

Here is his full set:

KIMBERLY CLARK (PARTIAL SET) jokes about how there was only one other black student at her school. She was not Keisha.

Here is her full set:

JIM TEWS (PARTIAL SET) jokes about his dad not letting him know when it was picture day at his school. Hilarious awkwardness ensued.

What’s that? You want a profile of him in brief?

ZAINAB JOHNSON (PARTIAL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) jokes about having 12 siblings, all from the same parents. So that’s worth something, right? Keenen notes that she is #baldandbeautiful which is what he thinks he is? Projecting, much! Russell tries to joke that Keenen has 1,300 siblings. Not about you, buddy.

ROCKY LAPORTE (PROFILE PREVIEW, FULL SET, JUDGES COMMENTS) shows us his family life in Chicago, and how he makes up for the times he’s on the road by spending more time with the kids at home. 26 years on the road! “It’d be unbelievable to win Last Comic Standing,” he says in the preview clip. Onstage he jokes about going to court, going to the doctor’s office and asked to fill out the form for someone to call in case of an emergency. Russell is losing his seat over Rocky’s set. And he says he hadn’t ever seen Rocky onstage, just at festivals, and could watch him for an hour. YES! Keenen and Roseanne want him to pick up the pace, though. So, just change your essential delivery, is that your advice? Alrighty then.

Stay tuned for results!

The judges deliberate and they talk about one guy and Russell thinks “he’s not sustainable” and Keenen thinks “he hasn’t found his voice.” Who is this he? We won’t find out, except by process of elimination and access to all of the editors.

Moving on to the SEMIFINALS are…Chloe Hilliard, Alington Mitra, Gerald Kelly, Zainab Johnson, DC Benny, Emily Galanti and Rocky LaPorte! Congrats, kids young and young at heart.

See you next Thursday. Well, we’ll see the next batch of contestants next Thursday who compete for the remaining slots in the semis!

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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