Iliza Shlesinger won the sixth season of Last Comic Standing, becoming the first female champion in the show’s history.

The funny woman won $250,000 and a talent contract with NBC, while also proving that humor is gender-neutral. She said as much in a conference call with reporters.

“I know that it registers with other people that I’m a female, but it has never registered with me in all the comedy I’ve done over the years. That’s never been an issue. I’ve never blamed it, I’d never use it as a crutch. I think to a lot of people it means a lot of different things. But for me, I’m just Iliza and I won. I’m a comedian that won. The female thing I can’t comment on because I just don’t feel that in my hear."

Iliza Shlesinger is one funny lady.

Considering how hilariously inept the John McCain campaign for President has been so far, it only makes sense that the Republican hopeful would appear on the season finale of Last Comic Standing this Thursday night.

He'll be joined by rival Barack Obama in a pair of pre-taped segments for the show. We've uncovered the clips and posted them below.

The Obama ad opens with the Democrat standing behind a lectern, telling Americans: "Hi, I'm Barack Obama and I'm running for president of the United States. Remember to vote for me in November. And if you don't think I'm funny, you've obviously never seen me bowl."

A picture of him bowling appears on-screen.

Obama then turns to someone off-screen and says, "I'm not going to deliver this line any better than that" and walks off.

The McCain ad starts with him announcing: "I'm John McCain and I approve this message. A president has to be funny. They just have to be."

Photos of a slack-jawed, cowboy-hatted President George W. Bush; a sax-playing President Bill Clinton; and a Bonzo-bedtiming pre-president Ronald Reagan appear.

"Unfunny presidents only serve one term if they win an election at all," McCain continues. "I may not be the last comic standing, but I'm definitely the funniest candidate for president."

"Yeah -- funny-looking!" says an off-camera voice.

"Who said that?" replies a faux-angry McCain.

Now that Last Comic Standing has narrowed its field down to 12 finalists, let's take a quick look at a few of those remaining:

• Adam Hunter: Former wrestler in high school; used to work at kids' parties as Spiderman, Barney, Batman and other characters.
• Esther Ku: Says eighth grade talent show was her first stand-up routine.
• Iliza Shlesinger: First experience with stand-up was in her junior year of college when she wrote a forty-five minute one-woman show and performed it.
• Jeff Dye: Knew was funny early on in first grade because fellow students would laugh at all he said.
• Jim Tavare: Knew he was funny at age 8 when he looked in the mirror and thought, "You look ridiculous."
• Louis Ramey: At age 6, he told his mom a very good joke; was all humorous and downhill from there.
• Paul Foot: First stand-up gig was in a student cellar bar in Oxford.
• Sean Cullen: Counts a lunchtime gig at a college outside of Toronto as his first stand-up experience.

Who do you wanna see crowed the Last Comic Standing?

We understand the minds of many readers are still blown after last night's Lost season finale. Therefore, let us make it easy for you to catch up on the latest in reality TV...

So You Think You Can Dance: Our first hour of auditions takes place in Charleston, SC where Dmitry, Natalie, Heidi and Travis were all found. Along for the ride is Tyce DiOrio who'll be judging along with the ever-present Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe... -- Zap2It

Last Comic Standing: We're in Los Angeles, screening hundreds of hopefuls to find the funny. Angela Kinsey and Oscar Nunez from The Office are on hand to scout out the best comics, and Fearne Cotton keeps us updated on how it's going outside... -- Reality TV Magazine

A pair of season premieres aired last night. Two solid, summer reality TV shows kicked off their summer seasons, so let's summarize them now...

So You Think You Can Dance: We got things started in sunny Los Angeles as the dancer-wannabes faced judges, Nigel, Mary and Mia Michaels to get the dance party started. Cat explained that each dancer gets a minute on stage to impress the judges and that one of three things will happen... -- Reality TV Magazine

Last Comic Standing:  The Big Apple is our starting point this season, and straight away we meet new co-host/semi-scripted interstitial performer Fearne Cotton. She's British and blonde and perky. If you like that sort of thing... -- Zap2It

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."

NBC is airing a sixth season of Last Comic Standing, one of the more underrated reality shows out there. Here's where you can audition:

JANUARY 28
LOS ANGELES, CA
Hollywood Improv
Doors open at 9:00 a.m.
8162 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90046
310-651-2583

FEBRUARY 7
NEW YORK CITY, NY
Gotham Comedy Club
Doors open at 9:00 a.m.
208 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
212-367-9000

FEBRUARY 14
TORONTO, CANADA
Yuk Yuk's
Doors open at 9:00 a.m.
224 Richmond Street
Toronto, Ontario Canada
416-367-6425

Continue Reading...

Congratulations are in order for Jon Reep.

The comedian withstood the challenge from other finalists and was named winner of Last Comic Standing this season. Below, he speaks to BuddyTV about the experience...

Well, it seemed like it was gonna be a really close race between you and Lavell. Were you worried?
I was worried. I was definitely worried. I think Lavell's one of the funniest guys I know, and I've gotten to know him over the past couple of months, you know, hanging out with him and stuff. It couldn't have been a closer race with anybody because, he's great.

Yeah, I mean, I seriously had no thought one way or the other what was going to happen because Lavell's got a good following out there and people like Lavell. You know, he's a funny dude. You just, you never know.

Have you tried out for the show before, or was this your first year?
It was my first year. I've been watching it, and I was always kind of hesitant about doing the show, and I didn't like it at first because, you know, they made it more of a reality show and I wanted it to be more about the stand-up comedy part of it. I never really liked comedy as a competition because I was actually on Star Search with Arsenio Hall and I had a horrible experience on that show. And I told myself, "Never again will I do this."

But I fortunately had good people on my side who said, "No, you should do it because you can't really beat the exposure." They're trying to get more established comics into the competition this year. And they took out the fact that we have to live together in a house, on a boat.  So, I thought, "You know what? Maybe it is a good time to audition for it." So I bit the bullet and did it, and I'm glad I did.

Well, what comics this season really ended up impressing you?
My goodness. Well, Lavell, Gerry Dee, Doug Benson, Amy Schumer. Those are my favorites.

Click here to read the full interview.

America, along with talent scouts Alonzo Bodden, ANT and Kathleen Madigan have named the top 10 finalists on this season's Last Comic Standing. Here they are...

Doug Benson
San Diego, CA
"Getting into the top ten has changed my underwear. Because now I can afford to buy some new underwear."

Lavell Crawford
St. Louis, MO
"I was elated and flabbergasted. And I knew that God had smiled on a fool today."

Dante
Ridgecrest, CA
"I felt like my whole life was about to change. I could do more for my family and my life. People get made fun of for thanking God at awards shows but I think that's the first thing I did."

Gerry Dee
North York, Ontario, Canada
"Relief. Excitement and relief. Relief is definitely the key word."

Debra DiGiovanni
Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada
"I'm super-duper excited! This could be the best thing that ever happened to my comedy career. Especially as a Canadian comic, it's great to be able to perform at an international level. It's going to be super fun!"

Ralph Harris, Jr.
Philadelphia, PA
"It felt like I was back. I can't wait to represent all of the great comedians around the country."

Matt Kirshen
London, England
"Being in the top ten feels like getting a massage from a burly man. I know it's doing me good, but I still feel a bit dirty."

Jon Reep
Hickory, NC
"Well good. They got it right."

Amy Schumer
Manhattan, NY
"I thought, 'This is great! Does this mean I can quit my job sorting mail?'"

Gina Yashere
London, England
"I had to wait a couple of seconds to make sure they said my name because I had been saying it in my head over and over again. I had to make sure it was Bill Bellamy saying it and not me."

Are Wednesdays currently the best night of the week for reality TV? We think so.

You've got a cooking show that actually doesn't focus on just one mean cook yelling a lot (yes, we're looking at you and shaking our head, Gordon Ramsay) in Top Chef.

And then you've got a show that actually makes us laugh... with the contestants, as opposed to at them! Last Comic Standing has always been a favorite of this writer. With that in mind, check out the latest episode guide now to see what Alonzo Bodden and company were up to last night.

But don't stop there. Read about the latest sizzle on Top Chef via that show recap, as well.