While many have said that irony is dead in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Lewis Black of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” expressed an entirely different sentiment Thursday night in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
“Irony isn’t dead. People are dead,” Black said. “Irony lives forever, because people are dead.”
The sardonic yet irresistible humor of Black and the irreverent yet hilarious routine of David Cross, star of the defunct HBO sketch comedy series “Mr. Show,” stopped short of bringing down the house, to be politically correct.
“At one point, political correctness has to leave the realm of humor and go back to whatever … it’s supposed to be doing,” Black said during his hourlong act.
Cross’ act, also an hour long, kicked off the evening with a roller coaster of personal anecdotes, scathing political commentary and reflections on Sept. 11. He began with a touching tribute, taking Thursday’s issue of The Daily and with a heavy heart reading one of the headlines.
“‘Osco to downsize during remodel,'” he said. “I mean, what the fuck, people? I hope you’re being active.”
Walking the politically correct tightrope ever so tenuously, Cross transitioned from prostitution jokes to the Virgin Mary and then to Sept. 11 before asking the audience if it was “cool to make fun of Bush yet.”
“I’m astounded people think he’s doing a great job,” Cross said. “What did you expect him to do? Go rent out a Motel 8, get a bottle of Jack and cry in the corner, ‘What am I going to do? What am I going to do?’ That’s a bad job.”
Cross apologized midway through his act saying, “This is all out of order,” and the audience broke into an awkward silence. He said it was the first long act he had done since the attacks.
Black demonstrated his comic prowess as he transitioned from bit to bit. Beginning with Northwestern’s climate, Black weaved through Halloween, the Super Bowl, *NSync, Starbucks, Alzheimer’s disease and the government before challenging the media’s self-censure of entertainment relating to Sept. 11.
Black pulled no punches as he mowed through the Bush administration’s policies, beginning with the $300 tax rebate, “the most extraordinarily dumb act in some time.”
“It cost the government 34 cents per letter,” Black said. “They spent $34 million to say, ‘Your check’s in the mail.’ Couldn’t they just take that letter and put it in with the check?”
Black’s “Back in Black” routine, widely seen on “The Daily Show,” features what event coordinator and Weinberg junior Jonathan Berman called “sarcastic complaints about the stupidity of various people around the world.” Berman is director of speakers for A&O Productions, which sponsored the event.
Black delivered most of his jokes stuttering in disbelief and screaming curses while wagging an admonitory finger at the audience.
“I watched the Super Bowl again this year. Why?” Black asked. “Because I’m an idiot!”
The audience received Black’s bit on the Sept. 11 attacks with praise as he blasted radio company ClearChannel for suggesting to remove songs such as “Walk Like an Egyptian,” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” from the radio.
“You can still be funny,” Black said. “You can still do whatever you want.”
Speech freshman Melissa Baumgart said she appreciated the way both performers were able to include mention of the attacks in their act.
“Humor is what separates us from the people who did this, because we are allowed to make fun of our government without punishment,” Baumgart said.
