It is an absolute sham that Shazia Mirza -The British Muslim woman did not get to the final 12 but Esther Ku did. Esther Ku is possibly the worst comedian? (I use the term loosely) i have ever seen.
It is a disgrace on the part of NBC, they have really shown themselves up this time- they are seen to be inviting the 'best' comics from all over the world and then choosing the worst female comics to be in the final???
Esther Ku may be all about ticking the boxes of ethnicity, but Shazia Mirza is in a different league, of great comedy. She had a truely original voice not heard before, where Ku was clearly doing Margret Cho's old act from 15 years ago and re-inforcing the tired lame old stereotypes that LCS is trying to get away from and find original talent?
Mirza and Andi Smith clearly stood out from all the women and most of the men so obvioulsy that it is embarrasing to all to have to watch the semi- finals and not see them go through, because NBC prefer a chick in a short skirt. I won't be watching anymore after this awful awful disgrace.

Totally agree. Ku should never have been in the final, and Mirza should. Simply because Mirza is funny.
How incredible to discover an amazing talent, only to be devastated by Last
Comic Standing's failure to recognize the magic they had.
Its no wonder people think women are not funny. LCS could have had a few great women in that final (Mirza, Smith, ) but instead opted for ridicule. People who don't watch comedy but then see LCS, Will judge female comics by the standard they see which is Ku and the other blonde girl. Where as they could have judged it by great female comics such as Mirza, who are proably too good to be on the show in the first place. Think Pryor, Carlin, Rock, we could have been responsible for discovering a few female versions of that, but misogony, once again got in the way. That's why women will never be considered as funny as men.

I beg to differ on only one point, yes Ku should not have made it to the next round, but (and this is just my opinion) There is no way Mirza deserves a spot in the final 12. The two funniest females in the group were Andi, and Iliza easily.

Mirza seemed really nervous and off during her set, and she repeated many of her jokes from the prelim and they weren't delivered as well...

Keith S. :{)>

I completely agree. I actually specifically decided to check the message boards in hopes to find a discussion about this very topic. Shazia Mirza could still work on her routine a bit more to improve it, but compared to other comedians, she definitely deserved to be in the top 12. And Esther Ku is just not funny at all. She has potential, but she needs a great deal of improvement before she can really be funny.

This does not surprise me at all, though. Last Comic Standing is funniest during the first rounds because that's when they really showcase the funniest comedians. The ones that make it to the house are never the funniest. I thought the "Married couple from Orange County" were hilarious. But I just knew they wouldn't advance because God forbid NBC make a good decision.

I am so glad someone started a thread on Shazia Mirza. She was without a doubt the funniest and most original comic in that semi- final. People like Adam Hunter, maybe able to sell their material but the actual material is lame. Go to any club in the US and you'll hear the same lame jokes about Bush, and Myspace. Mirza was the most original comic there, I thought her performance was great and she did stuff I have never heard before in Comedy. Reminded me of Lenny Bruce. Tragic that LCS could not take a risk and then put someone like Ku in the final! what a waste of a final place, we could have had someone challenging, intelligent and truely funny like Shazia Mirza. She was truely original and if it was about ticking boxes then they should have had Mirza instead of Ku, and Papa CJ.

actually, I would bet a paycheck that the reason she was not picked is because some muslims (and a shedload of uberliberal Democrats) would be offended

ku was picked because she's atractive and marketable.

plain and simple.

as far as mirza goes... man... i really just didn't find her funny. i didn't really enjoy her during the tryouts either....

I disagree. She may not have been picked out of fear that her routines would get too political and anti-American. From what I saw, I'd say she is more about social commentary rather than political ranting. But oh well. All we can do now is hope someone else gets a clue and gives her more TV coverage.

If this show was on anything but an NBC owned network, I would agree with you. But NBC has a long history of catering to special interest groups, in programming and in newscasts. I see this as more of the same. It is perfectly ok from an NBC standpoint to lampoon Christians and people who believe in marriage, but not to make fun of Muslims becaus ethey will boycott the advertisers (like Captain Morgan rum)

I have just watched LCS and the more I think about it, the more angry I get when I read comments all over this site that say that LCS is all about diversity and that's why Esther Ku and Papa CJ were in the final 12. This is a disgrace, if it was about diversity- then why not have diversity + a great comic= Shazia Mirza in that final 12.
She was way funnier than most of the people in that final 12, and she was the funniest woman by far. Her jokes were intelligent and went deeper than the tired old stereotypes used by CJ and as for Ku - she is just too awful for words.
When would we/ do we ever hear a Muslim woman's point of view in comedy or elsewhere? More than that she was just funny, and challenging. I can't believe that LCS went all round the world and picked two terrible female acts as representatives for women when they could have had someone as great as Mirza. This show has really gone from bad to worse

Personally I like Ku and Mirza, them both(equally), and yes it's a disgrace that Mirza didn't move along, and that Iliza did. But you have got to remember what sells best, and that typical stereotypes. So that is why Ku and Papa CJ moved along, people are used to those jokes and it makes them feel comfortable. So therefore they are the easiest to laugh at when it comes to ethnic jokes.

the Reason Mirza did not get picked is because NBC is in the pocket of the far-left Democrats, who are in league with Osama bin Laden. The did not want to risk ticking him off.

Shazia Mirza - totally agreed. She is quick, sharp, and her facial expressions crack me up.
Erin Jackson was also VERY good. Really made me laugh outloud. Andi Smith is clever. She's unique, but to be honest, I don't think I'd enjoy listening to that deadpan voice for an hour. I would definitely check out Shazia or Erin live though.

I totally agree. I was surprised she made it to las vegas....well, not just her....a lot of the choices surprised me....until I realized I was wrong about the purpose of this show.

But, even though I didn't think Mirzia was too funny, I DO think she was funnier than ku, eliza, papa cj (the cj stands for crappy jokes, btw), god's p, and ron g.

she's way too funny for this wacky house of comedians in their underwear.

Shazia was awful. Her jokes were fairly obvious or old. Plus she just gave off a whole bitter, angry tone. No one wants to go to a comedy show and hear someone badmouth their country constantly. Plenty of comedians do satire (George Carlin, Chris Rock) but without the bitterness she had.