A world famous comedian who will be performing in Bermuda next year said it was life changing to be a finalist in the latest season of the hit NBC show 'Last Comic Standing'.

"The experience was amazing," said Gerry Dee who finished in the final three of 'Last Comic Standing' in July. "It has changed my life."

Mr. Dee spoke to The Royal Gazette via telephone from his home in Toronto, Canada. He will be one of the comedians appearing in the second Just for Laughs Bermuda show coming up in January. Other comedians will include returning comedian Alonzo Bodden who has also a former 'Last Comic Standing' competitor and now a judge, Ed Byrne, Wendy Liebman, Greg Morton and Bermuda's own Bruce Barritt. Just for Laughs Bermuda is based on the much larger Just for Laughs comedy festival held annually in Montreal, Canada.

"When you sit back and it is all said and done and you think of the thousands of comics that auditioned it is like 'wow'," said Mr. Dee. "When it hits you months later, it is amazing that you got to that level. To me, it doesn't mean I was the third funniest person in the competition; it means I managed to get through all the different things that were involved."

Mr. Dee said there was a lot more to it than just standing on stage and cracking a few jokes.

"It was about picking the different material and not being too nervous to deliver it," he said. "It was about making your flight connections. If you thought about it along the way you would be stressed."

He said the hardest part was just getting your foot in the door. In the first stage of the competition, people lined up outside to get their time before three judges. People like Mr. Dee, who is actually quite well known in the industry, were given a shorter line to stand in. Mr. Dee had actually tried for 'Last Comic Standing' Season Four, but only got to the final 40. Mr. Dee said theoretically, you have two minutes in front of the judges, but the reality was more like ten seconds.

"After a few seconds, if they didn't like you, they didn't let you get to the next joke," he said. "I think my whole position started with my first ten seconds. I got them laughing right away. My next joke they didn't laugh. A lot of comics were mad because they were cut off after ten seconds." At the next stage, he performed before an actual audience, which he said was easier.

"Even in the next stage you have to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders," he said. "You have to have a lot of good material to keep advancing. You can't reuse anything."

He said it was stressful and so time consuming that he actually missed the birth of his first child. It was a seven month programme that went from March to September and included a 45-city tour. "My daughter was born on July 28 and I couldn't get home to see her until August 3," he said. "It was horrible to be stuck there for five days knowing my wife just delivered our first daughter. At the end of the competition, I wanted to thank my wife and I got teary because no one knew I missed the birth and hadn't seen my wife in two months. My friends make fun of me now for tearing up; I tell them there was dust in the theatre."

Mr. Dee said appearing on the television show was a tremendous boost to any comedian's career, even if they didn't win.

"I think I can back up now," he said. "What happens is it gets you the opportunities. People see you on television and then invite you to perform in the theatre. If you don't back it up with a nice strong hour of material then you will lose them. The ones who faked their way through 'Last Comic Standing' will get one year out of it, because they are not funny live."

He said in the 'Last Comic Standing' competition a comedian only needed four sets of four minutes of material. During the competition, some competitors could fake in a couple of ways, in his opinion. Mr. Dee said he has never been to Bermuda before, but will be bringing his daughter Alyce, now four months old, and wife Heather. "I was very lucky because my wife was so understanding," said Mr. Dee. "She is from a town two hours out of Toronto. She moved to Toronto because of my job. So when the baby was first born I was doing 'Last Comic Standing', and she was alone with the baby with no support. She got through it. Two straight months I was away."

The comedian was very proud to be appearing in 'Trailer Park Boys: The Movie', a popular Canadian mockumentary focusing on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts living in a fictional trailer park in Nova Scotia. It is directed by Mike Clattenburg. The movie has already been released in Canada and will be released in the United States on January 22.

"It is the biggest sitcom in the history of Canada," Mr. Dee said. "In the movie, I play the part of a prison guard who has a few gay moments. The sitcom has a huge cult following."

Just for Laughs Bermuda will be on January 10 to 12, in the Mid-Ocean Amphitheatre at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel. For tickets go to www.boxoffice.bm or All Wrapped Up in the Washington Mall or go to http://www.comedyevent.bm.