GetOut Magazine

Getting booted off comedy show isn't enough to shatter Todd Glass
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

Though it looks like a simple reality TV show, Todd Glass — one of 10 comedians selected to live in a funhouse-style castle for four weeks and compete on NBC's “Last Comic Standing” — says many of the contestants approached the show like “Survivor” or “Big Brother.”

“Some people were treating it like ‘Survivor’ when it didn't have to be that,” Glass, 38, says of the second season of “Last Comic Standing.” “Forget about it even being a game. It was like if you went on a trip with 10 people from your office, but you sort of know them but you don't know them that well and things happen. I pretty much got along with everybody in the house. I tried to just have a good time and enjoy myself.”

Glass — a Mel Gibson doppelgänger who is shown as a funnyman around the clock on the program — says he isn't always like that. “There's a serious side of me, but it isn't really on the show,” he says. “The part that they show of me is true. I understand why they don't show the other part. I totally understand because it's probably boring.’’

Since the program began airing nearly two months ago, Glass — the second comic to leave the program — says he tries to avoid Internet chatrooms.
“Some of my friends will pick and choose things to tell me,” he says. “Even though you shouldn't care what (people) think, you do care what they think.”

When asked why well-known comedians such as himself and Kathleen Madigan (headlining the Tempe Improv July 22-25) opted to audition for the show, Glass says it comes down to exposure.

“I've done almost every late night show there is and you don't get the TV exposure that you do on a show like this,” he says. “If you don't have a sitcom yet, you figure, why not... They changed the guidelines of the show this year. Before it was no TV exposure so the nature of it was that you were going to get comedians who hadn't been doing it as long. They changed the guidelines the second year and I think the reason they changed them is because they wanted the comedian that won to have a plethora of material to go out on the road with and perform.’’

Glass — who has been opening for Scottsdale's David Spade on a slew of dates this year and recently acted with Martin Lawrence in the film “Rage Control” — says he plans to use his notoriety from the show to his advantage.

“It's really what you do with your short-term popularity from the house,’’ he says. “I'm going to use it to pitch some shows.’’

Details
Who: Todd Glass with Corey Holcomb
When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Tempe Improv, 930 E. University Drive
How much: $14 and $17
Info: