Last Comic Standing Judge Roseanne Says “Comedy is Coming Back”
The competition reality show “Last Comic Standing” is back this year for season eight, and there are some big changes, promised executive producer Page Hurwitz in a press conference yesterday. One of the changes you’ll see this season is the return of challenge segments– but they won’t be the somewhat wacky situation challenges that were a part of earlier seasons of the show. This year’s challenges will be focused on comedy, and skills that performers would actually use in their careers, like trying sketch comedy, improv, or telling jokes at a roast. Of course there’s also a brand new host, JB Smoove and three new celebrity judges.
But the biggest change is that LCS has gotten rid of open casting calls. This year Hurwitz and co-executive producer Wanda Sykes handpicked the top 100 comics and brought them to LA for an “invitational round” where all 100 comedians performed for this season’s three celebrity judges, Roseanne Barr, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and Russell Peters. They eliminated the open auditions, essentially, to cut to the chase. Hurwitz said the decision was simple. “We can go around the country and have people come in off the street and do that for hours, but we have 3 terrific judges, so why waste our time with people who had never done stand up before.” From there, it will be 100% up to the judges to determine who will advance. No, America, you don’t get to decide who stays and who goes.
The list of who will be season eight’s final ten competitors has been a tightly guarded secret, but Roseanne Barr, who describes her judging style as simply “intelligent” revealed that we can expect great things from this season’s competitors. “They’re prepared” she said in yesterday’s press conference. Becoming a judge on the show has opened her eyes to what is happening in comedy today. Roseanne said she and fellow judge Keenan Ivory Wayans believe that we are experiencing a rebirth of comedy. “And not just on the show, but all over the place,” Barr said. “It’s exciting. It’s kind of like punk rock.” In recent years, Roseanne had stopped following the comedy scene because she felt it had become somewhat static and boring. And when she joined the cast, she had never heard of host JB Smoove or fellow judge, Russell Peters. But being a part of Last Comic Standing has changed her mind about the state of comedy today.
“Becoming a judge on the show and seeing people who are actually writing jokes that I’ve never heard before, its kind of exciting. I’ve never heard these premises, in so many of my favorite comics who are competing. I’ve never heard this kind of writing and its very brave. So that brought me back into comedy. I went to the comedy store, and I saw these incredible comedians; I’ve never seen anything like it. I feel really old; it’s a whole different world.”
Roseanne says we can expect to see great writers this year, great passion and comedians with real voices for social criticism among other things. She’s also impressed with her fellow judges. “I’m blown away every week” she said about co-judge Keenan Ivory Wayans. “Man, his feedback, I’m always like, let Keenan go first, and then I go… I agree with Keenan. He’s just brilliant.” She’s also a new fan of Russell Peters. “That guy is so funny, it’s like non-stop. He gives feedback like a stand up comic– joke joke joke,” she said. “There’s nothing on Earth that he doesn’t have a joke for, and it made me glad to be back in this arena.”
With so much talent in the competition, Roseanne admits it will be difficult to make decisions about who will advance and who will not. So how will she make her decisions?
“By who wants it most, who’s hungriest, who’s got the balls to go out there and deliver the mail.”
Season 8 of Last Comic Standing premiers Tuesday May 22, at 9pm (8c).
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