Black Comedy

Finally, Michael Ian Black has arrived in what he calls “a proper city.”  Although some of the seats are empty, he is glad to be in Boston with a loyal crowd, rather than a sold out theatre full of people who’ve never heard of him.

However, it is surprisingly hard to believe that Black isn’t as famous as he jokingly brands himself, since the show last Friday night was so shockingly funny.  While he bases his comedy on observations of his daily life, (extracting the most bizarre and lewd experiences), he still relates to everyone in the audience, even though they hate to admit it.

Black divulged such stories as a friendly visit to the proctologist, his discomfort in strip clubs, and his failed attempt at getting high, all of which are vaguely familiar to the crowd, but are still highly embarrassing.

Michael has no problem making fun of himself in any of these situations nor does he ever regret any of the jokes he makes.  He exemplified this fearlessness in mentioning  “baby rape” in our interview as well as in his routine. Even after hundreds of Twitter followers berate his dirty humor and unfollow him, he simply does not care.  Whenever he let something slip from his mind straight to his mouth, he paused to ask us, “too far?” all the time knowing that cracks at teen pregnancy, terrorism, and baby rape are still impeccably funny.  His disregard for what “offends” others is quintessentially part of his humor.

Altogether, the show was flawless.  It was as if he had engaged us in a very personal and humiliating conversation, despite the fact that such a conversation is not possible between hundreds of people.  Every joke and story was both horrific and hilarious, much like Michael’s fearful experience with an overflowing toilet, which he described as “worse than Somalia.” Such a statement does not seem applicable, yet works so well in depicting his terror, making us laugh even harder at it.  If he has no regrets about the jokes in his show, then neither do I.