Cover story from Utah's City Weekly magazine on Marcus.

On May 22, 2008, the sixth season of NBC's Last Comic Standing—sort of an American Idol for comedians, only less harmful to the nation's youth and ears—opened with a mild Thursday-night bang and thousands of auditioning yucksters from more than 20 countries.

And one from the least funny country of all: Utah.

West Jordan comic Marcus made the first cut on Last Comic Standing's season premiere and has ridden it all the way to the Final Five in the season finale (Thursday, Aug. 7; broadcast live from Las Vegas on NBC), thanks in part to winning an immunity challenge with Hugh Hefner's girlfriends (right) at the Playboy Mansion (yeah, rough gig), but mostly by being funnier than the rest of the pack. America may very well vote him the Last Comic Standing.

Too bad about the local-media blackout conspiracy against Marcus, huh?

OK, that might be an overstatement—but compared to the months-long (and still going!) Utah media orgasm over American Idol's David Archuleta, the cute Mormon teen from Murray who eventually took the silver, Marcus might as well be competing on the Food Network. No, wait: Kelsey Nixon got more coverage, too. Aside from some radio and City Weekly's print and blog reports about Marcus' progress on a major network reality show, the Salt Lake City media has virtually ignored one of its own.

Strange, because apart from his gritty look and full sleeves of tattoos, Marcus embodies the Utah ethic: Work, work and more work—for damned little money. Since quitting his rock band (Showdown to SXSW '04 finalists Rune) just a few years ago, he's mastered hundreds of voice impressions, toured relentlessly, released two live DVDs, won numerous comedy competitions, landed several local TV gigs (including a semi-regular stint with Fox 13, whose reporters have been dead silent about their former colleague) and reset the bar for tireless self-promotion. He's only a million or so Friends shy of Dane Cook's MySpace army, after all.

Win or lose on NBC, Marcus will be part of the marathon Last Comic Standing Tour that stretches from Aug. 29 into next year. Naturally, it's not coming to Utah, but Marcus will be performing a pair of Wiseguys Comedy Cafe shows at the Ogden (Saturday, Aug. 9) and West Valley City (Sunday, Aug. 10) locations before he hits the road with the other LCS finalists.

Of course, it would be sweeter if he won. Vote for the local boy on NBC, if only because Utah is sorely lacking in reality-TV winners thus far in 2008 (last David Archuleta burn … maybe).

To prepare Marcus for glorious victory and crushing defeat on Last Comic Standing, City Weekly has dreamt up a series of possible/utterly ludicrous scenarios for either occasion. Ever the humble guy, he at least pretended to be amused and gave his response to each:


If Marcus WINS Last Comic Standing …

He'll be immediately whisked away to begin work on his network-mandated sitcom Marcus in the Middle, wherein he plays most of the characters, relying on his myriad voices and a variety of dresses and fat suits. The premise: Comedian Marcus (Marcus) balances a wife (Marcus in a wig), kids (Marcus as CGI talking babies) and a sketchy agent (Marcus in a bald cap) with his career while fixing up his dilapidated suburban home between a burning pile of tires and a wacky gay neighbor (special guest star Carson Daly).

Marcus: What?! How did you guys get your hands on the treatment for this? I thought this was under wraps until spring 2009, when it was set to debut simultaneously on 23 channels! You know what's funny about this scenario: I'm sure some network exec somewhere will run across this and think, "Genius!" Thanks. Now I'm actually going to have to do this show!

He'll invite every one of his 36,000-plus MySpace friends to a Slip 'n Slide victory party in the parking lot of Wiseguys in West Valley.

Marcus: Hell yeah! Slip 'n Slide! Twister! Monopoly! Party at Wiseguys! You know, I think some sort of celebration is in order. Thanks for the idea—you bring the Slip 'n Slide, I'll bring the funny!

He'll blow his $250,000 cash prize on a tour bus once owned by Fall Out Boy, have it painted to look like a giant Transformers Decepticon and use it to pick up women: "Hey, ladies! It's me, Marcus! From Last Comic Standing! Get on the bus, and I'll show ya my funny bone! No? Well, maybe you'd rather hang out with … Matthew McConaughey: All right, all right, all right …"

Marcus: Ha! Yeah, my girl wouldn't like that too much. Although, driving around in a giant Decepticon sounds like a little slice of heaven. I wonder how many miles per gallon Optimus Prime gets?

The governor of Utah will declare the Marcus Minute, a 60-second tribute to the Last Comic Standing winner to be held at 11:59 a.m. on David Archuleta Day.

Marcus: Awesome! A whole minute! Ah, little David and his sweet, angelic voice. You know, we have a lot in common: I'm from Utah, he's from Utah. I perform, he performs. I've proven myself through years of hard work, touring, writing my own material, earning my fan base one show at a time … he likes birds. See, we're practically the same guy! Where's my parade?

He'll invest the prize money in The Marcus Academy for the Impressionist Arts, a school that teaches underprivileged children the importance of doing a good Christopher Walken: "When you grow up, kids, you don't want to be that guy at a party who just throws out a hack Walken … listen up, Javier! I don't care if you haven't eaten for three days—nail this Pulp Fiction monologue and you'll get a breadstick."

Marcus: Just what the world needs, more Walken impressions ...

KSL 5 (the local NBC affiliate that airs Last Comic Standing) and Fox 13 (the station where Marcus was a morning fill-in reporter for a year) might acknowledge his victory. Or existence.

Marcus: Oh, if I win, I'm sure they'll mention it between a bus crash and a weather update! Although, at this point, the only thing that could lure me to the KSL studios would be a Greco-Roman wrestling match with Dick Nourse. We never saw his bottom half; to this day, I believe he was a centaur.


If Marcus LOSES Last Comic Standing …

He'll be forced to take a "money" gig on KJZZ 14's reality-TV show The Surreal Utah Life, living in a Sandy split-level with fellow local losers Carmen Rasmusen (American Idol), Gev Manoukian (So You Think You Can Dance?), Kelsey Nixon (The Next Food Network Star), Rhiannon (Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods) and David Farnham (the douchebag who left his 2-year-old in the car so he could see The Dark Knight).

Marcus: What? You mean I shouldn't consider the standing offer from KJZZ to host my own pop-culture show ... as long as I always wear long sleeves, of course! Although, I think you're on to something with that house idea: You add a lesser Osmond, the chick from The Real World and Della Reese and we've got ourselves TV comedy gold!

He'll start working the drive-up window at KFC/Taco Bell, taking food orders as Bobcat Goldthwait/Carlos Mencia.

Marcus: Can I do this, anyway? In fact, screw the show—messing with people at a drive-thru, now that's living!

Big Deluxe Tattoo will hire him to stand around in the shop all day as a living flash-art wall.

Marcus: I'm there so much anyway, why not? I love those guys. Here's a little behind-the-scenes for you: NBC actually shot an entire segment at Big Deluxe with me getting a Last Comic Standing-themed tattoo by my good friend, John "JP" Pratt. Yes, I did indeed get a Last Comic Standing tattoo, although you wouldn't know what it is by looking at it. NBC pitched the idea, but I only found out afterwards that the segment will never see the light of day. Awesome, thanks NBC. First person to pick it out among the others gets a prize!

He'll rejoin his old metal band, which is currently touring the finest sports bars, swap meets and backyard keggers in the Intermountain West.

Marcus: Ha! I think you're the only one who remembers us, Rune. You know, I have to say if it weren't for my years as a frontman in that band, I wouldn't have been as ready to control a comedy stage. Honestly, I approach comedy the same way I approached rock. They say all comics want to be rock stars, and all rock stars think they're funny—am I the missing link? It's nice not to have to consult anyone on a set list anymore, and it's also nice to not have local newspaper writers compare you to a, what was it, "rock & roll Nick Lachey?" Is that the right quote, Mr. Frost? That was my first professional review … I've never recovered.

He'll begin doing late-night television ads for local comic-book stores: "Hi, I'm Marcus from TV's Last Comic Standing—and if you like comics, come on down to Christensen's Bat Cave, where they have everything from Aquaman to Zombie King! Like my pal Stewie from Family Guy says, 'Victory is mine! And so are these great prices!'"

Marcus: Again, why can't I do this either way? This sounds like exactly what I'll be doing, no matter what. Can I get paid in comics and action figures?

The Peppermill Hotel Casino in Wendover will contract him as the opening act for Engelbert Humperdinck, REO Speedwagon and others, in addition to performing his one-man show, Marcus' Cavalcade of 1,000 Stars, six nights a week.

Marcus: Ha, the Danny Gans of Wendover! That would be awesome! I could commute back and forth on the Fun Bus, two-for-one admission with an empty MGD bottle! I can almost smell the cigarette smoke and broken dreams!


Where Marcus Learned the Funny -

My dad's old Bill Cosby records, Wonderfulness and Revenge. I got these from him when I was about 8 and they changed my life. Cosby was a guy whose upbringing couldn't have been more different from a little white kid in Utah, but he made me relate to everything he said. Awesome, just awesome. Still awesome, for that matter.

Dr. Demento. It was this great radio show that played all sorts of cool old comedy songs and skits. Classic stuff. I used to listen in my bed on Sunday nights. I mean, when I was a kid, there was no YouTube, no MySpace. If you wanted comedy and you lived in Utah, that was it. I heard some of my first stand-up on that show. I owe Dr. Demento a lot.

Eddie Murphy: Delirious. There is where I learned that comedy could be dirty and well-written at the same time. Still one of the best comedy films of all time!


Six Shots With Marcus

City Weekly: What was the audition process for Last Comic Standing like? It's said to be pretty brutal.

Marcus: It can be brutal. I actually had a set audition time so I didn't have to wait in line, but it was still one of the longest days ever. I showed up around 8 a.m., even though my audition wasn't until 10, so I was sent to a "holding pen" where I was kept until almost noon before I was shuffled in with 25 other comics to audition for a room that was empty except for two producers who were trimming the fat, as it were. They were deciding who to send in front of the celebrity judges later that afternoon. I was deemed worthy and headed back to the pit with the rest, where we stayed for another three hours or so until we all were shuffled in again to perform for the celebrity judges. We had only two minutes to impress them—not to mention that I walked in not knowing that it was going to be Fred Willard judging me. I almost passed out when I saw him; it was crazy.

CW: Who was your favorite other comic on the show?

Marcus: I've been friends with Jeff Dye for a while, I love that guy—great kid, extremely talented. Iliza [Shlesinger] and I became good friends, and still are. She's great. I have to say, though, that next to Sean Cullen, none of us are funny. That man is one of the funniest people on earth. I have more memories of off-camera Cullen antics than anything else. I wish everyone could spend a month with Sean Cullen.

CW: Because of your "look," do you foresee a secondary career playing Thug No. 2 or Biker No. 5 on Law & Orders and CSIs?

Marcus: Ha, I could be so lucky. I admit, I have a pretty, um, specific look, so my strategy was to create the demand. Instead of me trying to fit their project, I figure maybe now they'll get their projects to fit me. Let's face it—if people really want to work with me, there are ways to cover the tats.

CW: Is Salt Lake City's comedy scene as clique-y and neurotic as its music scene?

Marcus: It was. In the beginning, I was kind of an outcast because I was 1. an impressionist, and 2. I climbed the ladder pretty quickly. I actually headlined Wiseguys three months after I walked in the door. People didn't like that. There were a lot of guys who felt I should have had to wait, but Keith [Stubbs, Wiseguys owner] figured, when you're ready, you're ready, and I guess his gamble paid off. Since I began, a lot of the old guard has moved on, and there are all these hungry young comics who want it. I've been trying to bring the scene together, letting them know that they need each other to succeed. If one person succeeds the whole scene succeeds. I'm in a position to give back to the scene, and that's what I'm trying to do.

CW: Is there a celebrity impression you've yet to master that keeps you up at night?

Marcus: Sure, there are voices I'm close to getting, but they just aren't there. I don't count a voice as ready until I know every time I pull it out, it will be dead-on. Lately, I've been working on Owen Wilson. I think his nose makes it almost impossible to do perfectly. George Clooney is another one that I'm working on. I'm always trying to add more voices. Any suggestions? Requests?

CW: What's the best bullshit line you've heard from agents and the like who've "discovered" you from Last Comic Standing?

Marcus: I got a call from a number I didn't know in L.A. I answered, and it was this guy from ICM Talent. I said hello and he literally said, I am not kidding, "Hey, there, funny man, who's ready to become a big star? Staying busy being famous?" I almost lost it. Needless to say, I wasn't interested.

Interview with Marcus w/ a personl intro by Marcus himself...

You know, the one thing that I really hadn't expected going into this whole Last Comic Standing experience was the incredibly polarized views. Some people (the ones that matter in my book) love the show, and others, well, they are not so positive...

It is always strange to read how much a stranger that has never met you and has no idea what you are about except for a minutes of edited TV footage will feel so free to rip you apart anonymously on a blog or message board. I spent time in that house with all of those people and they are all incredibly talented, wonderful people who I can say with full conviction, you know nothing about the real, true people they are from the few minutes of TV that you have watched.

I generally try to stay away from those boards, stay away from reading reviews, I know I shouldn't, that no good will come of it, but what can I say, I am curious. Nothing can prepare you for Googling your name and spending an hour or so reading about what an untalented hack you are, makes for an interesting day... :)

It is in those moments that you take comfort in the positive things that are written. The Good. The times when a stranger who you give your time to, someone who has no obligation to you, takes time to write something that truly makes your day. This is one of those articles. This was written by a reporter named Luke Hickman. Thank you Luke, this did indeed make my day...



...The time to produce comedy never stops for standup comics. Marcus, who is gaining huge public momentum for his ongoing winning streak on NBC's Last Comic Standing, is no exception to that idea.


As we sit together in a Hellboy II press screening, I can't help but notice Marcus' contagious excitement as he emits geeky fanboy energy. The only other place you come close to witnessing this visual example of extreme anticipation is in the look on children's faces on Christmas morning.

Halfway through the film, there's a very comedic point where Red and Abe Sapien toss back a few beers, get a little drunk, throw on some Barry Mannilow and talk about the women they love. Just before the scene closes, you know that all hell is about to break loose.

I lean over to Marcus and say, "This is the calm before the storm." And before I can sit upright again, he quips, "More like the Mannilow before the Mayhem." And at that moment, I realize that my clichéd analytical drabble will never stand up to the genius flow of his mind's natural runoff.

Last Comic Standing can be compared to American Idol in the way that it is a hybrid competition/reality show. Instead of performing live weekly, the majority of its standup performances are shot months before it airs. Only the last two episodes are filmed live and judged by any American with text messaging or outbound calling. And -- just like the most recent Idol -- this season's Last Comic Standing also features a more-than-deserving Utahan: Marcus.

Marcus, 31, grew up just south of Salt Lake City in West Jordan. Though his sights have not always been set on standup, two years ago he realized that it might be something worth giving a shot.

"One day," says Marcus, "one of the guys who was playing Wiseguys said, 'You should come by the club, meet the owner, and see if you can get some time.' "I went down there that night, met the owner, and he says, 'I've heard of ya. Go.' "I did a couple little things for him, and he goes, 'That's really good. Come back Sunday.' "He put me up for five minutes in front of the headliner ... and I've never, ever left the stage since."

Two years of struggling and trying to get by have passed, and now Marcus is one of the most promising final ten contestants on a popular network show. Not only can he make you laugh at the most average, everyday idea that anyone can relate to, but he's also got a special talent that you don't find too much in standup nowadays: Marcus can do the most spot-on impressions of people you don't usually hear impressions of.

But by the time LAST COMIC STANDING got around to the semifinals, Marcus had been coined as an impressionist. During his three-minute semifinal audition in front of thousands in a Las Vegas arena, he only spouted out one tiny impression of Gene Wilder during a WILLY WONKA routine. Marcus said that after the show, a very prominent individual in the comedy business asked, "Do you have any idea how much balls it took to do what you just did? Voices are a safety net. You can go out there at any show and do voices and people will absolutely love them. It's like heroin to an audience -- they love them. You can do a string of horrible jokes and then go, 'Who would like some impressions,' do some great impressions, and you'll have the audience in the palm of your hand."

Marcus replies, "I knew going in that I could do impressions -- I've always known that -- but I wanted to challenge myself to be more than that, to be bigger than that. I don't mind that I do impressions because that's something that I do ... but I wanted to show people that I can do whatever I want."

Even though he changed his routine by striking the impressions from that night's set, Marcus advanced through the semifinals to where the show is currently running: The final ten comics are all living together in one Los Angeles house. The reality TV aspect of the show is kicking in. And although they have already filmed up to the final two episodes (which will be done live), Marcus' lips are legally sealed by NBC from revealing how far he's already made it in the competition.

The further Marcus gets into the competition, the more he's becoming an American household name. In the four hours we spent together (including an interview, a stroll around Gateway and a nearly two-hour movie), I counted almost two-dozen people that either knew him in the past or now know him from the show. Marcus conversed with each one of them -- friend or stranger -- all the same, as if they'd been childhood friends who hadn't seen one another in years.

The first time I met Marcus was just a few days after Last Comic Standing premiered. It was at the press screening of Wanted. I looked back to the row behind me, recognized him from the show and said, "Hey, I know you." To which he replied, "Oh, really? From where?"

"From the show," I said. And then he sat with a puzzled look, as if he didn't know what I was talking about. After a moment, his facial expressions showed that it dawned on him as to what show I was referring to, and he said, "From Last Comic Standing? You watch the show? Very cool. I'm Marcus," and he extended his hand in a genuine, sincere greeting.

Now, weeks since the show's premiere, as we stroll through Gateway, trying to let the Z-Tejas burritos settle down enough to let us get through Hellboy without interruptions, strangers come up to him and say, "Hey, Marcus." He nicely shakes their hands and still replies, "Hey. I'm sorry, man. You'll have to remind me where I know you from." But most of them all reply the same. "No, no, no. I know you from TV." It still hasn't settled in.

Marcus is one of the most grateful and honored big-time entertainers I've had the privilege of getting to know. Though he knew all along that I was going to use any word that came out of his mouth or an experience that we had that afternoon in this article, he still carried himself like a normal person. In some ways, he almost acted like he had to move up a notch to play on my level -- as if I was higher than he. Marcus never once stopped vocalizing his appreciation for fans and never once dabbled in boasting. Like the Transformers logos tattooed on the tops of his wrists, there is "more than meets the eye" with Marcus. He's not just another arrogant guy on the fast track to stardom -- he's a normal guy like any one of us. It shows. And for that reason -- not only because I truly think he's the funniest comic on there, but because I find him humble and deserving -- if he ends up making it to the finals, I will pull out my cell phone and cast my first reality TV vote for him.

After a Last Comic Standing viewing party at the Bar Deluxe on July 3, Marcus finished a short standup routine by explaining to his fans how the rest of the TV series will be -- just in case he actually does make it to the finals. He explained that on July 31, the five finalists will perform live from Las Vegas. Then the voting will begin. The winner will be revealed during the finale, exactly one week later on August 7. "If I make it to the end, I will need you all to vote for me. If you do your part, I will do mine. And I promise that I won't Archuletta-you-down."

Last Comic Standing can be seen Thursdays at 8 p.m. on NBC. To see clips of Marcus' standup, go to myspace.com/marcuscomedy

For a complete transcript and audio of the interview, go to lukehickman.blogspot.com