Last Comic Standing 4 Auditions - New York, Los Angeles

DVDs
Chondra Pierce - A
Piece of My Mind

Live Comedy from the
Laff House: Make
Room for Comedy

Redneck Comedy
Roundup 2 - Bill
Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy
and Ron Shock.

Southern Gents of
Comedy - Ron White,
Vic Henley, Steve
McGrew and Otis Lee
Crenshaw

Laffapalooza #6 -
Jamie Foxx, JB
Smoove, Gerald Kelly
and Wil Sylvince

Laffapalooza #7 - Rob
Stapleton, Loni Love,
Jo Koy and James
Hannah

Laffapalooza #8 -
Rodney Perry, Tony
Roberts, Earthquake

Paul Mooney -
Analyzing White
America

Russell Peters - Two
Concerts...On Ticket

Dave Attell - Insomiac
Tour Uncensored -
Dave Attell, Dane
Cook, Greg Giraldo and
Sean Rouse

Mike Epps -
Inappropriate Behavior

Jeff Cesario - You Can
Get a Hooker
Tomorrow Night

Kims of Comedy -
Steve Byrne, Bobby
Lee, Kevin Shea and
Dr. Ken

Alonzo Bodden - Tall,
Dark & Funny

Jim Gaffigan - Beyond
the Pale

CDs
Don Rickles - Speaks

Jackie Mason - The
World According to Me

Jake Johannsen - Jake
This Dot Com

Brad Montague -
Double Live

Eric Schwartz - Wimp
Pimp

Kathleen Madigan - In
Other Words

Drew Hastings - I'm
Just Like You

Jesse Joyce - Joyce to
the World

Marc Maron - Not Sold
Out

Mike Birbiglia - Two
Drink Mike

Tom Rhodes - Hot
Sweet Ass

Jimmy Shubert -
Pandemonium

Ron White - You Can't
Fix Stupid

Books
Oliver Double - Getting
the Joke: The Inner
Workings of Stand-Up
Comedy

Ed Driscoll - Spilled
Gravy: Advice on Love,
Life, and Acceptance
from a Man Uniquely
Unqualified to Give It

Brad Stine - Live From
Middle America: Rants
from a Red-State
Comedian

Sandi C. Shore - Sandi
Shore's Secrets to
Stand-Up Success: A
Complete Step-by-Step
Workbook

Judy Brown - The
Comedy Thesaurus

Movies
March 24
Health Inspector -
Larry the Cable Guy
and Bruce Bruce star in
the comedy with
support from Lisa
Lampanelli.

April 7
The Benchwarmers -
David Spade stars with
screenwriter/comedian,
Nick Swardson, Craig
Kilborn, Norm
MacDonald and Adam
Sandler in a comedy
about a three-player
baseball team that
challenges Little
League teams.

Phat Girlz - Mo'Nique
and Godfrey star in the
comedy about love and
acceptance.

April 14
Scary Movie 4 - DeRay
Davis co-stars in the
spoof comedy with
Anna Farris and Regina
Hall.

The Wild - Eddie Izzard
lends his voice in the
animated feature.

May 19
Over the Hedge - Garry
Shandling, Wanda
Sykes and Omid Djalili
lend their voices in the
animated movie
starring Bruce Willis,
who replaces Jim
Carrey as the lead
character.

May 26
Little Men - Keenan
Ivory Wayans directs
his younger brothers,
Shawn and Marlon
Wayans in a comedy
that co-stars Tracy
Morgan, Gary Owen
and John Witherspoon.

June 16
Wordplay - Jon Stewart
shares his passion for
crossword puzzles in
this documentary
featuring Bill Clinton,
Bob Dole and Ken
Burns.

June 23
Click - Adam Sandler
stars in the comedy
about a man who finds
a universal remote.

Round 1: I boarded the train in Wilmington, DE at 10pm Monday, full of mixed
emotions. With a mortgage, a wife and a 2 year-old, this was the best investment: I
took a day off of work and spent $120 for a train ticket. I've been doing comedy off
and on for about two years. But after a couple great sets from the past weeks shows, I
truly felt I was setting myself apart from the other comedians I hear everyday. I knew
inside that I finally had something I wanted to share and attempt to put it out there to
be judged.

So my good friend, comedian Janice Kumulski and I said, "screw it" and headed for
New York City. The train ride was unbearable; I was afraid to see the line outside of
Carolines. Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best as I do with everything, we
hiked from Penn Station to Carolines to discover that the audition line was about a half
block long - sixty people deep. So we found a nice cozy spot on the concrete and
settled. It was a clear night so far.

We were very lucky to get in line next to a group of great people. We were constantly
watching each other's “camps” so we could run over to The Playwright Bar across the
street to go to the bathroom and take a few shots. The air became so cold that we
were using anything to stay warm: garbage bags, boxes, anything, but it was so friggin'
windy that everything proved useless.

The morning light began to break away the darkness but it was still cold. They doors
opened around 10am. As the line was moving, I realized that I hadn’t thought of which
bits I was going to do. I entered the club about noon. After I completed the application
and release forms, the production coordinator told me as I was next in line and that
they may not let me audition until after their lunch break. I has mixed emotions. Was
it an opportunity for me to review my material or just more time to keep mind-fucking
myself?

Finally, she got the call, “Send him in.” I was led through the kitchen and waited behind
the next person to audition. Now it was my turn. I walked up, still half frozen and that’s
when the first judge, Ross, mumbled something. I apologized and asked him again.
He repeated himself in a manner that made me think, “Ah shit, I’m done already.” I
introduced myself and let ‘er rip. I was allowed to do a two-minute bit, getting exactly
what I wanted - laughs.

Bob stopped me and gave me some awesome comments, and said it was the hardest
that he had laughed since the audition began that morning. Ross agreed that it was
good and asked me how long I’ve been doing comedy. I said, "two years" and he
expressed concern that I might not have enough material for the duration of the show.
I knew I did, but I am too much of a pacifist to stick up for myself and replied "okay."

Then Bob told me that they “were on the fence with me” and asked me to stick around,
which led to me pacing Times Square, awaiting a call. Shit! I put my wife’s cell phone
number as my cell number. Quickly I called my wife at work told her to leave her phone
on and if anyone called for me to just say I was in the bathroom and I’d be right back.
Then more drama: my cell phone battery was nearly dead.

I walked across the street to an electronics store where they had a charger for my
phone for $60. Damn! I tried to charge it on my credit card but no good. They lowered
my credit limit last time I paid some off, and the bitch was maxed out.

I told the guys at the store my situation with Last Comic Standing, and one of the guys
let me charge my phone right there in the store. I owe you bros! So between 15 cups of
Starbucks coffee and my cash for the train ticket home dwindling away, I was watching
the clock on the Motorola. It’s been two hours, what do I do? I went back. Should I get
in line again? No, they’ll call. At about 5pm, they came out of the door and announced
that auditions were over.

The 100-plus people in line were so livid that they were threatening the bouncers and
refusing to leave, waiting for another hour. I sat back waiting to get to the door and
explain my situation.

I had to make a decision: catch the next train home or wait to find someone coming
out? I chose the latter and thank God Bob came out. I walked over to him and asked if
he remembered me from earlier and if he recalled the situation, in which he did. I
inquired about whether I would be called back so I'd know to go home or stay for
another night.

He asked me to follow him over to the other producers that were in the room while I
auditioned. He asked them all if they remembered my set and reminded them that I
was “one of the on the fence people.” He asked what they thought, and before they
could respond, I told them, “If it’s material, they need not worry. I have books and
books of material." I never got her name but the one female producer jumped out with
an enthusiastic “yes” and the other four men followed suit.

Bob took me to meet with the producer of the call back show. She had me fill out more
paper work. I answered fewer questions when I applied for a job with the FBI. When I
finished she told me to be back by 6pm Wednesday night. I made a beeline to the
train station. I couldn’t wait to get home and share it with my family.

Round 2: I went back up to New York around noon. I got a hotel room with my sisters
from Connecticut who came to show support. I walked in to see a couple familiar faces
from yesterday in the line. The guy who was standing behind me in the line, Shorty and
another comedian. Kim “Boney” DeSheilds had been called back too. They were
strangers to me yesterday but felt like old friends today. All three of us had frozen
outdoors just for this chance and it was worth it.

I heard later that I was one of a handful of comics that made it through the “open
auditions” and that the other 40 comics were from “booked auditions” through agents
and managers. Not much was disclosed to us prior to an hour before the show.   How
much time are we doing? How clean does it need to be? It was the main reason I
wanted to be here in the first place - the experience. I didn’t know what to expect and I
think being naive to it all kept me at ease somewhat.

I got in line and my mind started racing. What should I open with? Should I do what I
did yesterday? Do I need to prove I have more material? Finally I cleared my head and
focused on what I knew I could get away with and make work in two minutes.
Here it comes, I’m on and I felt it man. I just felt it. It felt like it was my crowd and
they were there to see me. I almost felt too comfortable. But just as I had been in
sports growing up, the bigger the situation, the better I stepped up to the plate. I
killed.

I kept them laughing for two minutes straight. The best two minutes of comedy in my
life! Afterwards, they separated us into two groups I was in the first to be brought out.
Five comedians were called forward to move onto the next round. And I was not one of
them.

I can truthfully say I was so elated by my performance and I was content with the
outcome. I wasn’t counting on making it through the open auditions, let alone
advancing to the next round. The opportunity arose and I smacked that bitch with all
my might. This was the gargantuan kick in the ass I needed to get started in the “real
comedy world”.

Bodden's former housemate, ANT has gained opportunities in television, as host of
VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and will star in a reality show on the Logo Network. I recently did
a show with him in Hollywood and he was boasting about how he was making $50,000 a
show, performing stand up across the country.

Last Comic Standing has also helped comics who didn't even make it to final ten.
Husband and wife comedians Tom Cotter and Kerri Louise were semi-finalists on LCS2
and they are currently starring in their own reality series, Two Funny: Cotter and Louise on
the WE: Women's Entertainment Network. Opie & Anthony star, Jim Norton, who was cut
early during the second season, said in STAGE TIME that LCS netted him a spot
performing on The Tonight Show - twice in the same year.

Last Comic Standing is definitely the "American Idol" for comics, in which they have the
chance to be seen by millions of people. Being that it is the only show of its kind on
network television, it really doesn't get any better than that.