NBC UNIVERSAL- NBC’s Emmy-nominated competition series “Last Comic Standing” will return this summer for its seventh season with new host Craig Robinson (NBC’s “The Office”) it was announced today by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

Robinson, star of NBC’s hit comedy series “The Office” and the upcoming feature film “Hot Tub Time Machine,” will host the nationwide search for the funniest comedian in America, and reward him or her with a $250,000 prize, plus an exclusive talent deal with the network. The most recent edition of “Last Comic Standing” ran on Thursday nights in Summer 2008 and built an audience through its run.

“‘Last Comic Standing’ has been a consistent success with both viewers and critics and we can’t wait to bring it back,” said Telegdy. “The addition of a versatile comedic talent like Craig will only enhance what has proved to be a winning formula.”

Executive producer Peter Engel added, “I am so excited about season seven of ‘Last Comic Standing.’ We are looking for lucky seven being the best year ever. I am confident that Craig Robinson and the creative team will take the comedy to a new level of laughs.”

As with previous seasons, talent scouts in Los Angeles and New York will watch performances from aspiring and professional comedians. In addition to the open casting calls, “Last Comic Standing” will invite some of the best and brightest comics from all over the country to participate in the competition.

Open casting calls will be held in Los Angeles (March 6) at the Improv (8162 Melrose Ave.) doors open 9am, and New York City (March 21) at the Gotham Comedy Club (208 W. 23rd St.) doors open 9am. All contestants must be 18 and over.

Beginning as a stand-up comedian, Robinson first made his mark in the comedy circuit at the 1998 Montreal “Just For Laughs” Festival. That year, he also won the Oakland Comedy Festival Awards and the Miller Genuine Draft 1996 Comedy Search. He soon went on to perform his act on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” and “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Now headlining venues and festivals across the country, he does both solo acts as well as full-band sets – “The Nasty Delicious” – tying together his lyrical comedy with his finesse at the piano.

Currently appearing in the sixth season of the Emmy-winning “The Office” on NBC, Robinson portrays sarcastic Dunder-Mifflin warehouse worker Darryl Philbin. In the past few years, he has made his mark in the film world as well, stealing scenes in every project he appears. He made audiences question their notions of vanity playing the sensitive bouncer in “Knocked Up,” kept them glued to their seats as one of the henchman hunting Seth Rogen and James Franco’s bumbling stoner characters in “Pineapple Express,” and shocked them silly at the end of “Fanboys” as the surprise guest playing a THX Security Guard on site at Lucas Ranch.