Results tagged “lastcomicstanding”

First, let's once again acknowledge the enduring presence of Lisa on "Top Chef." No, she's not a local, but we like to think she is at least partially responsible for the elimination of our four locals from the competition, so she's worth mentioning. Part one of the finale last week demonstrated what is inherently wrong with "Top Chef"'s judging scheme. It's not cumulative; any chef can go home based on the dish being judged during that particular week, regardless of past excellence. Which means completely mediocre chefs can stay on week after week because another, better chef happened to under cook some beans. Hence, Antonia was eliminated and Lisa goes to the final three. And we know you all hate her, but you could at least offer her some congratulations, don't you think? [/sarcasm]

-- Doug Benson: How he didn't win the last season of Last Comic Standing is above and beyond all logic. Then again, competitive reality TV makes little sense at times. (See: Banks, Tyra) Benson managed to make it on LCS not once, but twice. And with good reason: he's downright hilarious. Nikki Glaser and Mo Mandel open for the Benson. Show starts at 8 p.m. (and continues until Saturday) at the Punch Line; $15.

-- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: A typical night at the cabaret this is not. The last time we saw Connie Champagne perform (during her stint at the Plush Room), tweakers were passing out in the audience, drunks wept into their vodka rocks, and Connie busted out a dead-on tribute as Judy Garland. Performing Garland's classics (like "San Francisco") as well as songs she might have crooned ("Bohemian Rhapsody" and "A Case of You"), Champagne shows us just why Garland should be remembered as the punk icon she is, not just a tragic figure of, ugh, camp. Curtain goes up at 8 p.m. (tonight and tomorrow night) at New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness; $28.

Pardon our absence last week, but we were on vacation along with, apparently, every other nerd in the world down at Comic-Con. We have a lot of local reality contestants to catch up with!

On "Last Comic Standing" former local comedian Sabrina Matthews did not make it to the next round, despite being one of the funnier comedians of the night. And that's really all there is to say about that. Which brings us to a note to the "Last Comic" producers: The single best moment during any season of "Last Comic Standing" was when all the comics were living together, and one day they convinced Dat Phan they were going to play hide-and-seek. So Dat Phan hid, and the rest of his housemates just went about their day, and didn't actually look for him. He hid for, who knows--an hour or something--finally came out of hiding, saw all his housemates sitting around the living room, and proclaimed, "I am never playing hide-and-seek with you guys again!"

-- Double Indemnity (1944) and Clash by Night (1952): Barbara Stanwyck sears the screen tonight in two gems: Billy Wilder's shadow-heavy, film noir hit about adultery and murder, followed by Fritz Lang's fick featuring Marilyn Monroe in one of her first roles. Shows start at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., respectively, at the Castro Theatre, Castro & Market Streets.

There were a lot of locals in the world of reality TV this week!

We're still recovering from two weeks of finales glut, not to mention a three-day weekend full of way too many episodes of "The Dog Whisperer," (episode after episode, all Cesar seems to do is convince dog owners to take their pets on nice long walks while saying "Tssst!" and using their "hands as a mouth, for biting." And yet, we can not look away!!). Anyway, all that TV watching has turned in to a big blug. Here's what we can remember: "Lost," WTF? "Alias," seriously, WTF? Yay for Harold, and the Hippies! Meh for Danielle . As for "The Apprentice," poor Donald Trump. The ratings for his series are in the crapper, and the finale doesn't happen till next week, when audiences will be way past getting excited over finales. We hope the series gets fired in the next year.