Arj Barker, Almost Famous

Who was that San Francisco comedian on national television telling a joke about a puffy parka and drawing applause and subsequently getting through to the next round on the premiere episode of Last Comic Standing? No, it wasn't Will Franken. It was Arj Barker! Whozat? Well, Arj did the The Marijuana-logues and a bunch of other stuff. Was he funny? Of course! I mean, not really! Unless you think jokes about how puffy vests don't have sleeves are funny. The judges do. Good for Arj! If he works hard, one day he could go from playing Cobb's to playing, well, Cobb's, just like last year's winner, the incomparable Josh Blue. --Michael Leaverton