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Why Do I Do This?

Bill Burr

Comedy Central · 2008 · 55 min

Intrusive thoughts, inner-city teacher movies, and the fear of staying single.

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Bill Burr builds his set around the kinds of intrusive thoughts that most people try to ignore. He explains the sudden, overwhelming urge to walk up to a stranger on a ladder and just shake it, or the temptation to slap a muffin out of someone’s hands at a sidewalk cafe. He treats his own brain as a hostile environment, leaning into unearned frustration and loud contrarianism.

Filmed at NYU’s Skirball Center in 2008, the Comedy Central broadcast captures a working professional on the verge of becoming an arena act. Burr had already spent years on the road, gained traction with his appearances on Chappelle’s Show, and launched his Monday Morning Podcast a year prior. He is fully formed here, pacing the stage and building his delivery toward a shout.

The material tracks his fear of aging into the creepy single guy at the local bar and picks apart the tired tropes of Hollywood’s inner-city teacher movies. He also tries an uncomfortable bit about the logistical management skills of dictators, waiting for the New York crowd to groan before reeling them back in.

The set list

5 bits

  1. The hysteria surrounding pedophilia

    Burr opens the special by dissecting modern public panic and overreactions around pedophilia.

  2. Girlfriends as relentless psycho robots

    Compares romantic partners and relationship arguments to dealing with relentless robotic programming.

  3. Intrusive violent impulses

    Burr describes battling irrational urges, such as wanting to elbow old women in the head, punch a table full of muffins, or drive onto sidewalks into pedestrians.

  4. Hollywood race movies

    Mocks formulaic Hollywood films about African-Americans overcoming racism in various sports and activities, criticizing cartoonish depictions of right and wrong.

  5. Racist grandmothers

    Explores uncomfortable interactions and generational viewpoints involving openly racist family elders.

How it plays

Tone
Crassly brilliant, combative, lovingly mean-spirited, and observational.
On stage
An intensely passionate, unapologetic, and affable motormouth who delivers politically incorrect observations and admits to being a jerk while maintaining crowd rapport.
Pace
Fast-paced, aggressive, and tightly timed, balancing high physical energy and expressive body language without wasted words or gestures.
About
Political correctness, Relationships and girlfriends, Race and racism in America, Intrusive violent thoughts, Social hysteria

What the critics said

Praised as a masterclass in timing and delivery, lauded for Burr's ability to tackle controversial, politically incorrect topics with razor-sharp wit and zero inhibition.

In the room: Energetic and engaged, with Burr occasionally addressing crowd disruptions, including a wasted audience member who fell asleep near the front.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, allmusic.com, letterboxd.com, thephoenix.com, thecomicscomic.com, cinematicdiversions.com, dead-frog.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Reflects Burr's transition and development in the New York City comedy club circuit after moving from Boston, with the title referencing the internal question he faced during humiliating early career gigs such as afternoon college cafeteria shows.

Details

Released
Taped
Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York City
Runtime
55 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Shannon Hartman
Topics
Before
One Night Stand (2005)
After
Let It Go (2010)

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