Photo Credit: Tabitha M. Mans
“I am funniest when I am angry. It’s that simple.”
Lewis Black is that funny, angry man. He brings his humous huffiness back to Milwaukee for two-night stand at the Pabst Theater on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9, for a couple of 8 p.m. shows on his current, wryly-entitled “It Gets Better Every Day” tour. Though the gist of Black’s stand-up act lies in his seemingly implacable frustration at the stupidity permeating the world, things may actually get a bit better for him when he gets to Milwaukee because of his history and relationship with the city.
“I have been coming to Milwaukee for quite a while. I worked two comedy clubs here, both of which have closed, which became regular stops on my club tour schedules. I also regularly performed the comedy tent at Summerfest for years. All of these venues, including Potawatomi, played an integral part of my growth as a comic. I would say that what makes Milwaukee a different stop is that it is one of the first cities I found an audience. I’ve played here so much, in many ways, it’s like coming home,” Black says.
When he’s not on certain broadcast forums, Black produces a profusion of profanity in his performances. It’s not as if he hasn’t tried to work without it, though. “I have ranted without it, as I was advised to do so by Jack Rollins, Woody Allen's manager. So, I listened to him. It didn’t work. It didn’t work because it wasn’t me,” Back explains, adding, “I use profanity because that’s the way I talk. It’s who I am. I am comfortable with that speech. It may be because I don’t see them as dirty words but as ways to express anger, frustration and pain.”
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Countering the catharsis Black expresses for audiences who share his frustration is the hope he has in his fellow humans. “I will tell you, I have a real faith in most of the American people, who I believe will always do the right thing and who care about their fellow man. What gives me faith is when there is a catastrophe, Americans who know no one in the area that has been hit jump in their cars and go to help out.”
With that kind of admiration for the masses, it’s easy to understand the way he expresses his exasperation. “I consider myself more of an optimist who really believes we should be able to get things done. It’s the frustration that makes me seem so damn cynical.” As for what he would like to see in the generation who may be too young for the act’s adult language, he offers, “My hope is that the kids who are growing up now have watched us closely, learned what stupid is, and will now avoid it and actually change the world the way my generation thought we were.”
Among the matters chafing him until those changes are made, Black elaborates, “There is a lot going on. Our education system is in disarray; we don't seem to think teaching civics is important. Our health care system sucks. Our infrastructure is appalling. Never has a country had so much and done so little with it. And this is just for starters.”
Frustrating for those who enjoy Black’s brash, belligerent stand-up and would like to see him act in scripted, narrative TV shows is that much of his work in the field has only been for pilot episodes never picked up to be series. Longtime Black aficionados may recall his intermittent role on late-’80s, comedy-drama hybrid “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.” He agrees with television critics of its time when he states, “It was truly groundbreaking in many ways. I am still close to Richard Dresser and Jay Tarses, who were the brains behind this exceptional series.”
Though his humor can be experienced in many media, including his regular Back in Black rants on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” there’s at least one TV idea concept he has yet to conquer, though he seems to acknowledge the remote possibility of it occurring when he proclaims, “I would like to have had a comedy series done in front of a live audience, but that just may not come to pass.”
If Black isn’t ever afforded that opportunity, screen viewers can see him in real time on “The Rant is Due”; he describes the program as “a live stream I do after my shows in front of the audience and that goes worldwide. It is mostly written now by the folks who live in the city or the state I am at, and the level of their writing is exceptional.” To contribute to its creation, Black advises, “Please go to lewisblack.com if you have a rant about anything that is bothering you. You can be a part of it I have been doing this for a few years now. It’s a show about the city I am in. It’ll be the Milwaukee Show, and I’m sure you can knock it out of the park. You can watch a previous “Rant is Due” on the website to get an idea of what I am talking about.”
To any newbies considering a ticket purchase for his show, he encourages, “I know they have never seen a comic like me. I think if they have been wanting to scream and haven’t been able to, I’m the guy you're going to want to see. And I’m funny. If you don’t think so, I wish I could give your money back.”
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Out of the plethora of Back in Black clips to be found on the web, here he is, uncovering the sham of bottled water in his own inimitable, NSFW way:
