• Well, I finally saw the Dave Chappelle special that spawned 158,000 think pieces. I give it a 7/10. Say what you will about “Sticks and Stones” but it got the internet talking. I think I liked it. I mean it’s hard not to just enjoy Dave talking. He’s one of the most naturally funny people ever and he just makes me laugh with a face or a silly voice. However, he loves to just walk that line. He’s one of those guys that wants to dig the biggest hole in the world and see if he can get out of it. It’s admirable. In a way, he’s saying, “Comedy is easy. I want to make it as hard as possible and take the least likable stance I can on EVERY topic and see if they’re still with me.” Some of it rules. Like, his bit on gun control in the special is next level. No need to spoil it here. However, there’s some downright tone deaf material in there no matter how hard he defends it (the race transition bit comes to mind). I could give more examples but great comic and friend Shalewa Sharpe actually wrote a really great piece about this on Vulture. Read that. The link is in the comments.
* Also, it should be noted that if you finish the special, there is an epilogue of sorts where he sits down and does Q & A with audience members. It’s a weird companion piece but a must-watch if you want to hear Dave’s thoughts on his own work and also see a million people ask, “How do you get started in comedy?” like they always do.
• Had a relatively slow week doing actual comedy these past seven days. The crazy thing about New York is that if you really, really apply yourself you can go up 30 times in a week. It’s not easy but you can. That’s why I feel like comics from here kick themselves when they don’t take advantage of how many opportunities for stage time we have. I went up just four times this past week. It’s not the worst and better than zero but I think everyone who does stand up can attest to how out of touch you feel if you don’t go up every day. Luckily, each mic was good. The best was yesterday’s monthly Pete’s Candy Store mic hosted by Sam Zelitch which I attended with Anna E. Paone. I’ll be honest, I only stayed for two groups but they were very fun. Plus, a radio reporter came and recorded our sets (if we agreed to it). It was pretty funny the way she recorded it. She would point her microphone at the comic while performing and at the audience during laughter. I had a joke not hit at one point though and she didn’t move the mic toward the audience. What a burn.
• Finally got around to seeing Julio Torres’ HBO special. Man, it is wildly different than Chappelle’s. It’s about Julio’s favorite shapes. He sits at a conveyor belt and does jokes about squares and toys that roll past him. It took a minute or two to get into but honestly, it’s one of the most unique, brilliant specials I’ve ever seen. Julio’s really smashed what we think of as a special. The jokes are still there and still hit really hard but it has a completely different presentational style than any stand up I’ve ever seen. It’s more of an art installment than anything. It’s a great watch and ends with a silly but rewarding visual callback. On top of that, it’s especially cool to see someone who used to do mics around the City reach a totally new stratosphere. I remember when Julio would go up at Pine Box and just absolutely kill so hard. I was a fan then and a bigger fan now. Cool to see the early beginnings of what is now a fully realized vision.
• One of the best things about being a baseball fan is there seems to be a lot of funny movies and TV made about the game. In the past two weeks, I saw two great baseball docs on Netflix. The first one was called “Jack of All Trades” and is about the boom and bust of the baseball card industry. If you collected cards at all in the late 80s-90s, you will LOVE this movie. Otherwise, I’m not so sure. It really struck a chord with me and the ending is surprisingly emotional. If you’re on the fence about it, just know that the subject of this 80-minute doc is also the voice of Arnold in “The Magic School Bus.” The second noteworthy doc is the very impressive and innovative “Screwball.” It’s about the PED scandal from the early ‘10s in Major League Baseball and is filled with colorful characters and re-enactments done by children for no reason other than it makes the movie somehow 50x funnier. Doesn’t matter if you’re a baseball fan for this one, you should definitely see it for the shocking story and dark humor. Also, Porter Fischer. What a wild character. Hard to believe that guy is a person.
• Got a cool comedy week ahead with the Big Walkowski three-on-three tourney and Malcolm Gladwell at King’s Theater (I expect to learn how you actually need 20,000 hours to be good at something).
Adios for the week
