"Last Comic Standing" finalists perform at the Moore

Like any contest-based reality show, "Last Comic Standing" attracts thousands of eager applicants. For the sixth season of NBC's popular standup-comedy competition, which ended in August, auditions were accepted from six continents and 20 countries.

By season's end, the hopefuls were winnowed down to five by an alternating panel of comedy stars from movies and TV. Winner Iliza Shlesinger went home with $250,000. Shlesinger and four runners-up — including Northwest native Jeff Dye — have now been reunited for the "Last Comic Standing" live tour, which visits the Moore Theatre tonight.

Shlesinger, a petite, Dallas-born comedian who emerged from auditions in San Francisco, became the first female, and the youngest contestant (at 25), to earn the top spot on the Emmy-winning show.

Shlesinger's got the same appeal that catapulted Amy Poehler to stardom on "Saturday Night Live," with snappy routines about stupid advertising, the hazards of dating and the biggest challenge facing young people today ("old people!"). Now living in Los Angeles, Shlesinger is hosting "The Weakly News" on TheStream.TV Web site, and recently appeared on E! channel's "The Soup" and "Chelsea Lately."

Second-place winner Marcus — yep, just Marcus — delivers a smirky brand of sarcasm that includes bits about Pearl Jam's indecipherable lyrics and rewriting the "Oompah Loompah" song for the benefit of Britney Spears.

Jeff Dye won the Seattle Giggles club "Laff-Off" in 2007 before ascending to third place in the "Last Comic" finals. He impressed the judges with a crowd-pleasing routine about the perils of gym workouts.

British comedian/musician Jim Tavaré is an established presence on the BBC, with his trademark double bass as a sidekick. An entire episode of the American sitcom "Wings" revolved around his bass routine and Tavaré scored fourth place on "Last Comic" with routines he'd performed for Prince Charles, among others. He also had a featured role as "Tom" in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

Fifth-place finalist Louis Ramey earns laughs with solid bits about Amish gangs and his first sexual experience: "It was in the back seat of my dad's car ... I was alone ... but not totally alone: dad was driving."

All five comics will perform their best bits at the Moore tonight; it will be interesting to see if Seattle's favorites match up with the final voting on "Last Comic Standing."

Jeff Shannon: jsh@verizon.net