Jun172008

To Hate Lewis Black You Must Know Lewis Black

Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy

Hecklers are always amazing to me, but I will say one thing for them, at least they’ve actually sat through a part of a comic’s act to criticize them. In this video clip, this caller into “Talk of the Nation” seems to have taken grave offense to Lewis Black but can’t seem to really name anything specific about Black’s act or recent book that he finds offensive. Here’s the clip (found via Mark Evanier):

The thing that gets me the most about the clip - besides Black’s offense at being compared to Family Guy - is Black’s sincerity about his approach to stand-up - that he has to have “belief that things are going to be right.” It’s a little unclear - it could refer to the fact that he has to believe his material to be true.

But what I heard was this: his material isn’t an attempt to denigrate the culture but it’s done in the hope that culture gets uplifted, and perhaps his work can be the small part of that. There’s a level of hope at his core, that keeps his material from being the rantings of a curmudgeon.

In the meantime, here’s a clip of Lewis Black talking about Jews, Christians and the Old Testament, just in case that caller - or anyone else - needs reference the next time they want to express how they’ve been insulted.

Posted by Todd Jackson at 05:12 PM | Send to Friend
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