Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening
Comedy Central · 2010 · 56 min
A loud debut hour focused on bedsheets, Facebook, and sudden fame.
Aziz Ansari bounds onto the stage with the excitable energy that defined his early stand-up. Instead of the relationship sociology he leaned into later in his career, his debut hour relies on pop culture obsessions and animated storytelling. He yells about bedsheet thread counts, questions the logistics of R. Kelly’s personal life, and spends a notable amount of time roasting his own teenage cousin on Facebook. The delivery is fast and entirely committed to the premise.
Recorded at the Brentwood Theatre in Los Angeles, the set arrived in early 2010 right as Ansari was breaking out on television. He had recently finished his MTV sketch run and was settling into his role on Parks and Recreation. Rather than testing out alternative personas, he focuses on his immediate reality: BlackBerry texting anxieties, backstage music festival encounters, and the surreal nature of sudden fame.
The set list
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Bedroom sheet manufacturers making fraudulent thread-count claims
Treating a Southern Living investigation that revealed he was shorted 304 threads as if it were a bad drug deal where he should shoot Hotel Luxury Linens in the face.
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Harassing his cousin Harris on Facebook
Infiltrating his chubby teenage cousin's Facebook study group and teasing him about his obsession with TNT dramas and Cinnabon.
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Hanging out at Kanye West's apartment
Observing Kanye alone listening to his own album on the couch and humorously reassuring Aziz that an extended bathroom visit was due to an important phone call rather than taking a shit.
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An absurd Craigslist classified listing
Recounting finding a man requesting oral sex in exchange for concert tickets while searching for tickets online.
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Observing R. Kelly's erratic behavior
Detailing Kelly suddenly leaving a nightclub because he felt he would never get a better lapdance, and sharing unexplained concert non sequiturs.
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RAAAAAAAANDY routine
Performing in character as the loud, blowjob-obsessed, shock-comic character developed for the film 'Funny People'.
How it plays
- Tone
- Irreverent, playful, silly, and charmingly honest without being overly arch or dark.
- On stage
- Energetic, jumpy, livewire persona radiating youthful, teenage-like enthusiasm, wonder, and joy, dressed neatly in a tailored brown suit.
- Pace
- Dynamic and boisterous with crisp deliveries, sharp setups, and a lively hold-and-release cadence.
- About
- fraudulent thread counts, family dynamics and cousins Harris and Darwish, encounters with musicians Kanye West and R. Kelly, Internet oddities on Craigslist and Facebook, pop culture and Southern colloquialisms
What the critics said
Met with widespread critical acclaim; Variety highlighted Ansari's unmistakable joy and laugh-out-loud personal storytelling, Pitchfork praised his pop smarts and ability to bridge alternative indie scenes and mainstream audiences, and LAist commended his crisp delivery and dedication.
In the room: Recorded before an enthusiastic, packed house at the Brentwood Theatre.
Backstory
Filmed near the conclusion of his months-long 'Glow in the Dark' tour (named with permission from Kanye West), focusing on his mid-20s personal life, Internet downtime, and celebrity encounters rather than cynical post-election political material.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- 2009, The Brentwood Theatre, Los Angeles
- Runtime
- 56 min
- Where
- Comedy Central
- Director
- Jason Woliner
- Topics
- After
- Dangerously Delicious (2012)
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