On June 13, 2007, competitive

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' began airing its fifth season on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

with new host,

Bill Bellamy William Bellamy (born April 7, 1965) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Bellamy first gained national notoriety on HBO's Russell Simmons' ''Def Comedy Jam'', where he is credited for creating or coining the phrase "booty call", descri ...

. For the first time ever people could vote in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. This season is also taped rather than filmed.

Auditions

Auditions were held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and Tempe. Numerous established comedians auditioned for ''Last Comic Standing'' this season. They included: *

Arj Barker Arjan Singh Āulakh (born 12 August 1974), known by the stage name Arj Barker, is an American comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. He was born to an engineer father a ...

* Chuck Roy *

Thea Vidale Thea R. Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Vidale is perhaps best known for her role as Thea Armstrong-Turrell in the ABC sitcom '' Thea'', which originally aired from 1993 until 1994. Vidale is noted as ...

('' Thea'') * Dwayne Kennedy *

Claire Hooper Claire Hooper (born 5 September 1976) is an Australian stand-up comedian, television and radio presenter and writer. Hooper is co-hosting '' The Great Australian Bake Off'' alongside Mel Buttle. She appeared as a team captain on the 2008 rev ...

(''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in ...

'') * Fiona O'Loughlin * Josh Thomas (''

Talkin' 'bout your Generation ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'' is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef. History Original run The first series ran on Network Ten for 18 episode ...

'') *

Lawrence Mooney Lawrence Mooney (born 22 April 1965) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, and former television and radio presenter. Radio career Mooney has held various jobs including a cleaner, salesman, furniture polisher and collecting golf balls at a ...

Some of the finalists have also appeared elsewhere: *

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

('' BET's Comic View'') *

Doug Benson Douglas Steven Benson (born July 2, 1962) is an American comedian, marijuana rights advocate, television host and actor, best known for hosting the podcasts and TV series ''Doug Loves Movies'' (2006-present), ''The Benson Interruption'' (2010-20 ...

(''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 20 ...

'', '' Marijuana Logues'') *

Gerry Dee Gerry Dee (born Gerard Francis-John Donoghue;Profile
, oct.ca; accessed February ...

('' Trailer Park Boys: The Movie'') *

Lavell Crawford Lavell Crawford (born November 11, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Huell Babineaux in ''Breaking Bad'' (2011–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2017–2022). He also played the role of ...

(''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'') *

Debra DiGiovanni Debra DiGiovanni (born March 21, 1972) is a Canadian stand-up comedian originally from Tillsonburg, Ontario. She is a frequent guest on the CBC Radio program ''The Debaters'', for which she earned a Canadian Comedy Award nomination for writing. ...

('' Video on Trial'') * Ralph Harris ('' On Our Own'') *

Jon Reep Jon Reep (born March 26, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and actor, known as the "That thing got a Hemi?" guy in Dodge commercials starting in 2004. From 2004 to 2006, he played the recurring character Police Officer Gerald Bob in the ABC ...

(''

Premium Blend ''Premium Blend'' was a stand-up comedy series created and directed by Paul Miller that aired on the American cable television channel Comedy Central from 1997 to 2005. In 2005 the show was changed, and now known as "Live at Gotham". The show wa ...

'', ''Bandits vs. Smokies'',

Dodge Ram The Ram pickup (marketed as the Dodge Ram until 2010) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Group LLC and FCA US LLC) and marketed from 2010 onwards under the Ram Trucks brand. The current fi ...

Hemi commercials) *

Amy Schumer Amy Beth Schumer (born June 1, 1981) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She ventured into comedy in the early 2000s before appearing as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition series ''Last Comic Standing'' i ...

(''

Inside Amy Schumer ''Inside Amy Schumer'' is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by Amy Schumer. The series aired on Comedy Central from April 30, 2013 to June 16, 2016 and was revived in 2022 for a new season on Paramount+. Schumer and ...

'', '' Trainwreck'', various others) *

Gina Yashere Regina Obedapo "Gina" Iyashere is a British comedian who has made many appearances on British and American television. Early life Yashere was born and raised in Bethnal Green London to Nigerian parents. Before becoming a comedian, she worked ...

(''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'', ''

Gina's Laughing Gear Gina's Laughing Gear was a special programming slot which was presented by Gina Yashere. It was shown on Friday afternoons on BBC One and repeated on Saturday on the CBBC Channel. The purpose was to showcase new CBBC CBBC (initialised as Chi ...

'', '' Comic Relief Does Fame Academy'')

Season 5 Results

: LCS means the comic was the last comic standing : SAFE means the comic won the

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

challenge : WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown : OUT means the comic lost in the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

Episode guide

Episodes 1-6

Episodes 1-6 consisted of the early auditions and the selection of the finalists.

Episode 7

Immunity challenge: Heckler Challenge

The contestants were driven to The Ice House, where they were paired up. One performed on stage while the other sat in the audience heckling them about their jokes. They then switched roles. The best heckler and the best performer would be rewarded with

. The winner for dealing the best with the heckler was

. The pairs for this challenge are as follows: *Lavell Crawford and Debra DiGiovanni *Amy Schumer and Matt Kirshen *Ralph Harris and Gina Yashere *Jon Reep and Gerry Dee *Dante and Doug Benson

Head to Head

Ralph Harris, Gina Yashere, and Dante all tied in the main vote, they went head-to-head. Ralph Harris gained the majority of the audience vote, sending the other two home.

Episode 8

Immunity challenge: Jester Challenge

The comics were driven to

Medieval Times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

where they were told that they were going to dress up like

court jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

s and tell Medieval jokes in front of an audience. Jon Reep beat Amy Schumer in the finals to win immunity.

Head to Head

This episode's head to head put Debra DiGiovanni against Matt Kirshen. Matt beat Debra by a narrow margin (in the closest head-to-head vote the show had ever had) to stay in the competition.

Episode 9

Immunity Challenge: Speed Joking

The contestants were told that they would have ninety seconds to tell jokes to six

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. However, the contestants didn't know that four of the deal or No Deal models were switched out for a

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

, a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

, and a

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

. After everyone was through, the women picked

as their favorite comedian.

Head to Head

Matt Kirshen, Doug Benson, and Ralph Harris were chosen to compete in the head to head. After their performances in the Last Comic Theatre, it was revealed that Ralph Harris had the most votes to become the last person to make the final five.

Episode 10

The final five performed in front of a live audience for five minutes each. After all five had performed, the phone lines opened to let home viewers vote for their favorite comic. The one with the fewest votes would be eliminated. Each comic had a short bio before their performance.

Episode 11

Ralph Harris was eliminated for having the lowest number of votes. The remaining contestants performed another stand-up routine for five minutes.

made a guest performance.

Episode 12

Amy Schumer received the lowest number of votes and was subsequently the first of the final four to leave the competition.

Josh Blue Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to: People A–J * "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...

from season four and

Harland Williams Harland Michael Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. After several years of stand-up in Toronto and Los Angeles he made his film debut in ''Dumb and Dumber'' (1994) before playing starring roles in the short ...

performed. Jon Reep, Lavell Crawford, and Gerry Dee performed five-minute sets. Before their performances, NBC showed clips of them at their old jobs, where Dee was a waiter, Crawford was a

crossing guard A crossing guard (North American English), lollipop man/lady (British, Irish, and Australian English), crosswalk attendant (also Australian English), or school road patrol (New Zealand English) is a traffic management personnel who is normally ...

, and Reep worked at a tire store.

Episode 13

Kathleen Madigan Kathleen Madigan is an American comedian and TV personality. In addition to her stand up comedy performances, she is a regular guest on a variety of U.S. television programs. Early life and education Kathleen Madigan is one of seven children in t ...

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous ro ...

, and

Greg Proops Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his guest appearances on the U.K. and U.S. versions of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the ...

made guest performances. Afterward, Gerry Dee was eliminated from the competition as he received the fewest votes. Reep and Crawford performed their acts in anticipation of the following week's final episode.

FInale

Jon Reep beat Lavell Crawford in the two-hour finale.

External links

Official siteReality TV World page
{{Last Comic Standing 2007 American television seasons Last Comic Standing seasons