‘Last Comic Standing’ review: Did Joe Machi, Nikki Carr, Rod Man make final four?

Tonight, “Last Comic Standing” aired the first of its final rounds of the season, where the remaining comics all tried to give their best effort to come out there and make you laugh.

The interesting thing about the show tonight is that there really were no duds. Everyone did a good job, and that made the decision for the judges so much harder for them than they probably thought it would be going in. For now, though, let’s start with our ranking of where the performers stood before bias (and the judges) get in the way.

5. Rocky LaPorte – We are not here to bury Rocky at all. He had a very good set! The problem is that Rocky for us just is not as daring or as interesting as some of the others in this particular competition. He’s still funny, but there are just a few jokes here and there that are flat.

4. Lachlan Patterson – Lachlan was really funny by the end of his set, but it took him a little while to get there. The beginning here does have to dock him a few points, if for no other reason than everyone else was basically great from the very beginning.

3. Nikki Carr – We’re glad to see Nikki finally come through with some stories on her relationships, since that is a side of her comedy and her point of view that we feel has been missing from most of the competition to date. We found some others funnier, but as we said at the start, that’s not so much as slam on her as it is praise for everyone tonight. This was a great group!

2. Rod Man – Rod Man came out and managed to do an entire set all about babies that are “going through changes.” As always, he was completely ridiculous, and yet we laughed almost throughout the entire thing. He’s such an interesting, distinct comic, and we really feel like he could be a great star of a show somewhere.

1. Joe Machi – Some very good jokes in here, starting with his “hey, gang” and then going into everything from daredevils and telemarketers. Joe just has this rare gift to make almost anything funny, and also make all of the extremely hard work he has put into this act look almost effortless. There really are not a whole lot of people out there like him.

Results – Interestingly, the last two waiting to have their names read were Rocky and Lachlan, with the former ultimately being sent home. It feels like the right move. There just wasn’t that breadth of comedy from Rocky at this point to really justify him sticking around on the show any longer.

Who was your favorite this time on “Last Comic Standing”? Share below, and head over here if you want to see where we ranked the comics going into this! Also, sign up now to get some other news worth laughing about via our newsletter.

Photo: NBC