Lewis Black Turns Up The Heat
For a city that normally does not have weather, it was a hot
one in Santa Barbara on September 12th. A fact that did not escape
comedian Lewis Black, stopping by the Arlington Theater on his “The Rant is
Due, Part Duex” comedy tour.
Third day into the tour, one could already tell it’s been a
rough one. Opening act John Bowman was all piss and vinegar with the Santa
Barbara audience, who had been waiting patiently in an historical theater with
no air conditioning for the duo to begin. As Bowman started into his material,
the heat struck him and he started to strip off his jacket and roll up his
sleeves. “It’s lovely you have this show in this quaint historical building…
why don’t you get rid of the organ player and GET AN AC UNIT?” It was obvious
the opener was as grumpy as the headliner. “I wish Lewis Black was really going
to be here – he’s not, IT'S TOO HOT!”
The audience was obviously familiar with Lewis Black, and
knew what to expect from one of his live shows – extreme grumpiness emphasized
with a bit of screaming and profanity. Bowman’s detour from his pre-planned
material to something more topical that was actually affecting the audience at
the moment was welcome comic relief from the balmy heat.
As Lewis Black took the stage, it was apparent he too was
feeling the heat. Usually a man to dress in a collared shirt and sports jacket,
he slowly walked out on stage in a rumpled black t-shirt and jeans. “I had a
terrific ensemble to wear… cuz I know how fucking fashion conscious your village
is… But I saw John on stage and I said 'FUCK IT!'”
Coming back from three weeks of vacation, Black pre-warned
the audience that he might just “start staring off into space” at any given
moment. However, this action never transpired.
Black spoke of his adventures abroad, stating that everyone in the U.S.
needed to get the fuck out of here and go to another country, otherwise we all will
continue to believe we know what we are doing. “They have solutions, better than
ours… and they DON’T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH,” Black exclaimed, wiggling his pointer
finger at the crowd in his signature manner.
As is his practice, Black made the already heated atmosphere
more heated by jumping into politics. “I am a Socialist… Don’t applaud – I
WON’T have you applaud. I am DISGUSTED that I am.” But the crowd applauded
anyway. “When I think of Socialism, the first place I think of is Santa
Barbara,” Black teased the audience. And
Santa Barbara took it – it was hard not to, they were paralyzed by the heat.
But Lewis Black did come with a message. “If I have one
message for you to take home tonight, it would be… go to Tahiti.” To that the
crowd gave pause. “Oh, but why would you want to leave Xanadu?” Apparently, the
Polynesians don’t give a fuck, and after 14 days, the amount of days required
to stay in Tahiti to save your brain according to Black, you won’t either. Of course, after this lovely message, Black
jumped right back in to politics.
Black was intelligent and thought-provoking, as he continued to emphasize his messages by yelling, cursing, and wiggling his fingers as the crowd. No subject was off limits with Mr. Black, ending his night with gratitude and sarcasm, “Thank you for sharing this BRICK OVEN atmosphere.”