Twenty-five years after making his stand-up debut at the old d.w. eye comedy club here, Chip Chinery is featured on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" Tuesday (8-10 p.m., Channels 5, 2).

Chinery, based in Los Angeles, has kept busy for the past decade with commercials, movies and TV sitcom guest shots ("Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Seinfeld," "Friends"). But with fewer sitcoms, the 1982 St. Xavier High School graduate decided to audition for NBC's reality show.

"The Hollywood stand-up (comedy) scene is interested in youth. I always say, 'I'm funny enough, but I'm not 20 enough,' " Chinery says. "I thought 'Last Comic Standing' would be a great opportunity to be seen by millions performing my own material."

In the premiere, "Tonight Show" talent scouts Bob Read and Ross Mark check out comics in six cities, including the Los Angeles audition Chinery attended.

"It is my understanding that I will be on the first show, and again in one or both of the next two," he says.