It Is What It Is

Bone Hampton’s best material comes from admitting how little he actually wanted to exert himself. He spends several minutes explaining what it was like to sit on the sideline as a third-string defensive lineman in college, praying the coaches would forget he was on the roster so he would never have to collide with an opponent. He sells the bit not through cartoonish exaggeration, but through the relaxed, unhurried cadence of someone sharing an embarrassing story on a porch.

Filmed at the Dry Bar Comedy club in Provo, Utah, and released in April 2017, the 34-minute set captured Hampton midway through a steady career in clean comedy. A veteran of the Christian circuit and a former Dove Award recipient, Hampton had spent years working club stages, touring with Sherri Shepherd, and doing audience warm-up for daytime television.

The set runs through a series of familiar premises made distinct by his timing. He talks about working as a substitute teacher, running into trouble when an acting credit makes people mistake him for a fugitive, and how romantic persistence turns into criminal stalking based entirely on whether the man looks like Idris Elba. A short chunk on appearing on The View brings the same self-effacing logic, with Hampton treating television sets and green rooms as places where he is continually surprised to find himself.