Why I Want LaVell Crawford to Win NBC's Last Comic Standing

Because I Got to Party with the Comedian in Chicago, Kind Of

Funnymen LaVell Crawford and Jon Reep are the finalists in NBC's "Last Comic Standing" when Canadian Gerry Dee was booted off tonight. Ironically, after the reality show scoured the globe for comedians and viewers in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States voted, two Americans are the finalists. And who tickled my funny bone and should earn the "Last Comic Standing" title? Lovable LaVell Crawford. Not just for his simple and laugh out loud comedy but because I got to party with him in Chicago, kind of.

I traveled to Chicago on business last month and ended up staying at Hotel Sax, formerly the House of Blues Hotel. On a Sunday night after the business function, my colleagues and I were chilling in Hotel Sax's Crimson Lounge, a lush, sexy, Moroccan-themed bar. The four of us were the only ones in the Chicago lounge until the waitress asked us, "Have you heard of Antoine Walker?"

Antoine Walker's name was familiar to me and it wasn't until I learned he played for the Miami Heat that it clicked. He's one of the NBA players who had their homes broken into in the Chicago area over the summer.

Turned out it was Antoine Walker's birthday and he and his closest friends were planning a little champagne toast before partying in Chicago. My mini-posse and I sat in our corner watching as past and present NBA players, comedians and actors joined the "small" celebration.

Sitting across from us, alone on a couch was a familiar face. "Hey, he looks like that guy on 'Last Comic Standing,'" I told my colleagues. "You know, the one who does the skit with 'Daddy, why are you breathing so hard? It's so I can breath!'"

The champagne toast for Antoine Walker began and our little group was included. Friends of Walker, including LaVell Crawford, gave humorous and thoughtful speeches and we cheered right along with our own bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label, compliments of the NBA player (or someone in his posse).