Lewis Black

Philadelphia Weekly
November 14, 2007

A-List

Hit and misanthrope

Lewis Black
Thurs., Nov. 15, 8pm. $45-$65. Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts. 215.893.1999. www.kimmelcenter.org

Like a pre-9/11 Dennis Miller on crank, the genuinely angry and always hilarious Lewis Black takes a circuitous but sharp-fanged approach, attacking the bastards who run things with a frustrated gusto that sometimes threatens to spill over into dementia.

Black’s development has mirrored Miller’s in at least one respect: exponentially increasing hysteria. Just as Miller sold out his liberal credentials after 9/11, choosing instead to traffic in batshit-crazy rants about the dangers of civil liberties, Black’s been spiraling deeper and deeper into what can only end as a full-on mental breakdown in front of a live audience. Or is it an act?

Whatever, it’s exhilarating.

Black’s Daily Show colleague Jon Stewart is really funny only when he’s pissed. Black starts pissed. He’s the comedic equivalent of the Hulk. He spares no one. Attacks on Republican greed and arrogance are bookended with diatribes against Democratic ineffectiveness, bureaucracy and infighting. Lately it seems the only group safe from Black’s maniacal reach is Canadians, who, according to Black, “get it.” (Joshua Valocchi)