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Dangerously Delicious

Aziz Ansari

Comedy Dynamics · 2012 · 61 min

Internet rabbit holes, ethnic slurs, and Joe Pesci box office trivia.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Aziz Ansari structured Dangerously Delicious around the specific rabbit holes of a bored digital existence. Long before doomscrolling had a name, Ansari was dedicating significant stage time to the box office returns of Home Alone 2, Joe Pesci trivia, and a 21-page online list of ethnic slurs. The latter turns into the hour’s centerpiece, introducing the audience to highly specific, antiquated insults like “a touch of the tar brush”. He also revisits stories about his younger cousin Harris and spends a few minutes complaining about a Gmail outage.

Filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., the set caught the comic right as his role on Parks and Recreation was peaking. Taking a cue from Louis C.K., Ansari skipped the traditional network route to release the recording directly to fans for five dollars. Critics treated the release as an agreeable but transitional step in his catalog, noting a slightly lower energy level as he moved away from his earlier hip-hop name-dropping and started drifting toward the adult anxieties that would define his later work.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Watching an adult film shot in a local donut shop

    Ansari acts out a sign-language interpretation of explicit terminology and imagines the director's artistic appraisal of pastry use.

  2. An online flame war with a cyber-heckler

    Ansari fixates on the surreal mental image of his heckler swimming in an ocean of hippopotamus genitalia.

  3. Editing a college admissions essay for his cousin Harris

    Ansari breaks down the absurd, poorly conceived content of his young relative's writing.

  4. Jay-Z asking him for a joke at a New Year's Eve party

    Ansari shares a self-deprecating anecdote about freezing up and flopping under pressure from hip-hop royalty.

  5. Growing up in South Carolina and dealing with racism

    Ansari counters outside sympathy about Southern racism by pointing out how delicious Southern food and fried chicken are.

  6. Eavesdropping on 50 Cent in a restaurant

    Ansari observes the rapper's confusion over what a grapefruit is.

How it plays

Tone
Observational, crude, playful, and self-deprecating.
On stage
An energetic blend of swaggering baller and self-deprecating geek, exhibiting curiosity and bemusement over everyday absurdities.
Pace
Energetic and humming with momentum, while consciously showing more restraint than his manic 'Randy' persona.
About
Southern culture, racism, Googling obscure subjects, online pornography, dating in New York City, fame and hip-hop culture

What the critics said

Critically praised for its freshness, intellectual curiosity, and engaging energy, with critics noting Ansari's growth as a stand-up and his unique comedic voice.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, comedydynamics.com, avclub.com, huffpost.com, vulture.com.

Backstory

Filmed during the Dangerously Delicious Tour and released independently as a direct-to-consumer $5 download on azizansari.com, following the digital self-distribution model popularized by Louis C.K.

Details

Released
Taped
2011, Warner Theatre, Washington
Runtime
61 min
Where
Comedy Dynamics
Director
Jason Woliner
Topics
Before
Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening (2010)
After
Buried Alive (2013)

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