Bill Bellamy News

Bill Bellamy, host of Last Comic Standing, recently spoke to The Winnipeg Sun about the new season of the show, which premieres Thursday.

Specifically, the comedian remarked on the differences and similarities of having contestants from all over the world compete against one another.

"I feel like I'm the point guard of the show," he said.  "I'm giving the ball to everyone who's performing and hopefully setting the room up in a way where they can go out and do a good job. It's not my job to show up other comedians.

"Ultimately, it's the fans who decide what's funny, anyway. It doesn't matter what I think. Comedy is subjective.  Certain jokes that I might think are hilarious, the crowd might be going, 'Whatever,' so it can go both ways."

Overall, the veteran funny man stressed that the audience's reaction is still the main barometer that makes or breaks a comedian.

"The crowd's response is everything for a comedian," Bellamy said.  "If the crowd goes wild, every comic I know feels on fire inside."

The new host of Last Comic Standing says the upcoming fifth season taught him that laughter is an international language.

"For me, I've got to say, coming into Last Comic Standing, the thing that I liked about it was this whole international feel. We traveled to different places, and as a comedian, a lot of these place I had never been before," said Bill Bellamy (pictured).

"What's cool about it is to see humor transcending everything, no matter if you're from a different country. As long as there's no language barrier. An Australian joke. You get a guy or girl from London. You get somebody from Canada. It doesn't matter. It just like as long as you bring the funny, I think it's a beautiful thing."

Last Comic Standing 5 starts Wednesday, June 13 at 9 p.m. on NBC.

When it debuts, the show will be airing footage from a casting search that went international for the first time this year - with talent scouts for the series making stops in Sydney, Australia; London, England; Montreal, Canada; as well as across America.

"The international element's been interesting," said executive producer Peter Engel, who added he thinks the additional casting has helped beef-up the quality of Last Comic Standing's fifth season cast.

"We're looking for that fresh voice. A fresh take. That person who has a different bend on something that we haven't heard before. We're looking for the guy or girl that's going to make us laugh. That's really it. Comedy is very simple: If you laugh it's good, if you don't, it's not."

"I would say probably in the semifinals - again, some people didn't bring it, most did, there's a whole lot of pressure - I'd say this was probably our strongest field since Season 2. I think this is our strongest field and I think of our [10 finalists] it's our strongest field."

Bellamy will be Last Comic Standing's third host in its last three seasons. The actor and former MTV VJ served as host of Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes? - a Last Comic Standing-style reality TV series that aired on TV One.

"I had my eyes on Bill for a couple of years," explained Engel.

"In fact I wanted Bill last year, but we couldn't clear schedules... I wanted Bill from way back when. I just thought he would be a perfect fit and he is. So when we were deciding who to go to, there were no other choices here. With [now-former NBC president] Kevin Reilly, I said, 'Bill Bellamy?' And Reilly said, 'Get him!' And that was it."

Bill Bellamy said he wasn't expecting the opportunity to host Last Comic Standing, but is glad he's been given the chance to.

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