Funniest people all know each other well

By MIke Hughes
Gannett News Service

The last comics standing on "Last Comic Standing" are wonderfully varied.

Alonzo Bodden, a 42-year-old comedian from New York, is one of the three remaining finalists on NBC's "Last Comic Standing." Gannett News Service

Now they have their final face-off at 7 p.m. tomorrow on NBC. The winner will be announced Thursday.

In its first season, "Last Comic Standing" was limited to people who had never done network shows. This time there were no restrictions, and top standups converged.

Mostly, this is a battle of old friends. Kathleen Madigan realized that when she was named as one of the final 10 standup comedians. "I'd known five of these people for 10 years or more," she says.

The show chose its final five comics and added a sixth person in a one-more-chance round. Then it trimmed the field to three, who compete tomorrow.

The three finalists are:

• Gary Gulman, 33, Madigan's visual opposite. He stands 6-feet-6 and weighs 210 pounds, down from 255 when he was a Boston College tight end. He grew up in Peabody, Mass., and was an accountant for a while against his better judgment. "Even in college, I didn't enjoy it," he says.

• Alonzo Bodden, 42, from Queens, N.Y. "I come from a blue-collar, middle-class area," he says. "It's the same one that (rapper) 50 Cent came from. If you listen to him, it's a tough ghetto." Bodden — who worked for Lockheed in California before switching to comedy — can seem as tough as needed. He's big and bald, has a deep voice and drives a motorcycle.

• John Heffron, 32. As for his background: "It was your typical, divorced family," he says. He grew up in South Lyon, Mich., where both parents encouraged his comedic skills. "I wanted to do standup since I was 13," he says. "To get in the comedy clubs, you have to be 18. Then I started doing open mikes, twice a week." He succeeded quickly, became a local disc jockey, then decided that wasn't enough. "I didn't want to be the guy at the gas station passing out bumper stickers from 2 to 4 p.m."

There's been drama along the way:

Tammy Pescatelli, a 31-year-old comedian from Cleveland with a following from the "Bob and Tom" national radio show, was at a New York hotel waiting for the second round of auditions when she heard her father had had a heart attack. "I wanted to go home," she says. "My mother says, 'No, he doesn't want you to miss this.' I decided, 'Look, I'm going to go as far as I can.' "

Jay Mohr, a former "Saturday Night Live" performer, hosts the popular NBC talent competition for up-and-coming comedians. Gannett News Service

"Alonzo was very laid back," Madigan says.

Each week, one of the comics would single out someone for a one-on-one challenge, with the studio audience sending one of them home.

In the first week, Heffron beat Bonnie McFarlane with a comedy blitz. "When I'm on stage, I'm in ultra-high gear," he says.

In the second, Pescatelli barely nipped her friend, Todd Glass. Bodden and Gulman survived multiple face-offs. Madigan, with her top reputation, was never chosen for a face-off.

Now one person will win the top prize, including a Comedy Central special and an NBC development deal. All the finalists are already winners, though. They could tell that when they visited comedy clubs after "Last Comic" started airing.

"People will start to talk to me as if they already know me," Bodden says

Heffron returned to a club in Appleton, Wis., where he usually draws no special attention. "The moment I got off the plane, two people recognized me and started talking to me," he says.

Now he's famous, and one of the last comics standing.