Last Comic Standing
"Last Comic Standing" host Anthony Jeselnik helped introduce the last of the invitational comedians on the Aug. 12 episode. NBC

It was a big night on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” as the celebrity judges finally narrowed the hundreds of invitational comedians down to the top 41 semifinalists. Now that the show has delivered four solid episodes of diverse comedians, it’s time to let the games begin.

The night kicked off as it usually does, with host Anthony Jeselnik introducing the first of many comedians taking the stage that night. While the host’s introductions are often some of the funniest parts of the episodes, the real stars of the evening were the judges.

Roseanne Barr, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Norm Macdonald were each tasked with listening to open more group of invitational auditions before passing judgment on each one. In true “Last Comic Standing” Season 9 fashion, Macdonald ended up stealing the show once again with his blunt attitude and often nonsensical critiques.

He came alive during the set of Iranian comedian Amir K, who politely requested that Macdonald do him a colossal favor and critique him as his Burt Reynolds character persona that he made so popular on “Saturday Night Live’s” famous “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch (recently revived during the 40th Anniversary Special). The 51-year-old comedian obliged delivering a small impression and some positive feedback.

As the next comic took the stage, the show’s toughest judge seemed to be in a good mood, but that quickly went away. After Harrison Greenbaum’s set about quoting the Bible versus “Harry Potter” in an argument on the subway, Norm seemed to take particular exception to the bit knocking the Christians saying “if you’re going to take on an entire religion, you should know what you’re talking about.”

He reminding the young comedian that author J.K. Rowling is a noted Christian and that her books carry heavy biblical themes, to which Barr replied: “what?” It was an awkward moment and seemed unnecessarily harsh on Greenbaum. However, that didn’t stop him from being among the ten comics of the night to move on to the semifinals.

Greenbaum was joined by Clayton English, Noah Gardenswartz, Mia Jackson, Michael Palascak, Ricarlo Flanagan, Melanie Comarcho, Angelo Tsarouchas, LaVar Walker and Amir K who all made it through in Episode 4. Now, with four more episodes to go in Season 9, the remaining 41 contestants are:

Taylor Tomlinson
Ian Bagg
Ryan Conner
Ms. Pat
Mehran Khaghani
Moses Storm
DC Ervin
K-Von
Ambrose Jones
Esther Povitsky
Crystian Ramirez
Bryan Kellen
Kevin Bozeman
Amy Miller
Andy Erikson
Greg Warren
Dominique
Tony Baker
Francisco Ramos
Cyrus McQueen
KT Tatara
Alycia Cooper
Sammy Obeid
Joe List
Dwight Seigel
Drew Thomas
Andi Smith
Amir Gollan
Brad Loekle
Shakir Standey
Sheng Wang
Harrison Greenbaum
Clayton English
Noah Gardenswartz
Mia Jackson
Michael Palascak
Ricarlo Flanagan
Melanie Comarcho
Angelo Tsarouchas
LaVar Walker
Amir K

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