One Mohr time: ‘Last Comic’ returns to Vegas

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

According to comic Jay Mohr, for comedians there is no bigger or better city in which to perform than Las Vegas.

"Vegas is the Holy Grail of venues for comics," Mohr said in a recent phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. "When you go to your life on the road, you can play New York, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, even Atlantic City. But when you're headlining Vegas, that's the top. I mean, it really is."

Which is why for the second year in a row, Las Vegas is the kickoff site for his hit reality series, "Last Comic Standing."

"For a lot of these comics that are really new, for them to be in the Theatre Des Arts in the Paris hotel, it just puts the pressure on and raises the stakes a little higher," he said. "It takes them out of their game. Some will drown and some will float to the top."

"Last Comic Standing" involves a group of professional and amateur comedians who are vying to be the next big comedian. The winner receives an entertainment contract with NBC.

For the episode to be taped at 6 p.m. Thursday at Le Theatre Des Arts at Paris Las Vegas, 20 contestants will compete to be among the final 10. That group will then live in a castle in Hollywood Hills, Calif., while each week one is voted out of the house by callers nationwide.

Mohr, who created the series, and serves as the host as well as an executive producer, said the concept came from how funny comedians were offstage and combined with a reality show.

"I wished someone would film comics offstage," he said. "And reality shows -- these people get famous and they're in People magazine and they didn't do anything to deserve being famous. You see 'Survivor' somebody gets voted off and they're on Letterman the next night because they burned rice. It's like you don't deserve to be on Letterman. You were the person who peed in camp. ...

"I thought why not have a reality show with comics in a house, that way every one on the reality show actually deserves their 15 minutes of fame."

Mohr's show proved to be a surprise summer hit for NBC, with "Last Man Standing" consistently beating the competition in its Tuesday night slot.

The actor-comedian, though, said he never had any doubts the show would be a success.

"I would never pitch a show that I thought was destined for mediocrity," Mohr said. "I was very happy, but certainly not surprised."

Perhaps the show's biggest surprise, however, was its winner, Vietnamese immigrant Dat Phan. The then-28-year-old would-be comedic was barely getting by in Los Angeles when he auditioned for "Last Comic." Phan was living under a desk in a shared apartment, while subsisting on little more than bread, water and Top Ramen.

While some may have questioned his overall talent when compared to other contestants, Phan and his hardluck case, nonetheless, won over the hearts of voters en route to the title of "Last Comic Standing."

More than seven months after the results were aired in a two-hour finale, Mohr remains ambivalent about Phan's victory.

"I'm certainly not unhappy. People voted, and that's what happened. It is what it is," he said matter-of-factly.

"We're juggling two shows. It's a comedy show, but it's a reality show. So you want the funny, but then sometimes you want the good story."

Phan's win, however, had an unexpected influence on this season. It was proof to thousands of comics who contemplated auditioning that they, too, had a shot at winning.

Consequently, Mohr promised this year's show, which premieres in early June, would feature a group of "more-established" comics than last season.

"Last year there were five or six comedians where you just went, 'Ooof, I can't believe we had to sit through this,' " he said. "This year as a group there's no duds. It's a much better group.

"We had a lot more headliners come out for the show because they realized what it could do for them."

Which, for Phan, meant a fast start to a career with an exclusive talent contract with NBC that had him making an appearance on a recent episode of "The West Wing."

Still, Mohr said the losers gained even more -- including five times their previous incomes.

"It's really amazing," he said. "You take comics that are breaking their ass out on the road and going onstage ... and audiences know not only who they are, they know a lot about them, they know their personality.

"So everybody wins, really."