Many were robbed on Last Comic Standing, but Myq Kaplan was robbed the hardest

This was my first season watching Last Comic Standing. I’ve always been a stand-up comedy nerd, but have avoided this show like the plague, mainly because I’d always heard that it was fixed. Plus, any time I’ve ever heard a comedian talk about the show, it’s with nothing but a pure sense of derision at best, and downright hatred at worst. But hey, it’s summer TV, so I decided to give it a shot.

I collected episodes on my DVR, fast-forwarded through the bulk of the nonsense and the judging (Oh, he’s “very, very, funny?” What a revelation!), and just concentrated on the good stuff. But damn, there really wasn’t a ton of good stuff. However, there were a few stand-outs.

Like Tara, I was a big fan of Tommy Johnagin. One, he’s kind of hot. Two, he has that “I’ve had my heart broken recently, and I’m super-bitter, but I can see past that to find the funny story in it” thing going on, which is always great when executed properly. Three, he was, you know, good at stand-up — which I count as a plus in a stand-up competition. His sets were always tight, and each one went in a different direction, so I never felt like I was just hearing a different part of the same set every week.

However, it was the other bespectacled weirdo, Myq Kaplan, who truly won my heart. Against all reason and everything I know about myself, I wanted him to win from the beginning. I feel like one of those women who falls in love with a death-row inmate, and just keeps on making excuses and concentrating on his good qualities. “He writes the most beautiful poetry. I’m tellin’ ya, it just breaks my heart.”

I feel this way because there are many reasons why I automatically hated Myq Kaplan. One, his name is motherfucking Myq. It looks like just an annoying way to spell Mike, and that’s some bullshit. I’d like to believe that this is just some fun Jewish abbreviation for Mordecai or something, but it’s probably just Mike, and I hate that. Also, he’s a vegan. And I hate vegans.

However, he made me laugh unlike anyone else on that show. I love the way he riffed on the comedians before him whenever he took the stage, and as the judges constantly mentioned, he’s a really solid writer. The best thing about him though is that I never knew where he was going to lead us. Comedy often follows a straight line. It has certain beats and landmarks that it hits along the way, and then it gets to the end. Myq Kaplan was like a boxer, constantly ducking and weaving and then hitting us with something that we didn’t see coming.

Beyond that though, he accomplished the impossible: he talked about being a vegan without making me want to punch him in the face. I’m of the belief that most vegans become vegan because they want to belong to some sort of “exclusive club.” They want something that sets them apart from everyone else, and allows them ample opportunity to yammer on about themselves. Myq, however, would toss off jokes about being a vegan that actually endeared me to him. It was just confusing (but in a wonderful, hilarious way).

Here’s a clip of Myq from his pre- Last Comic Standing days.

Clacked by Kona Gallagher
on Aug 12, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT