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People Pleaser

Daniel Tosh

Comedy Central · 2016 · 62 min

Daniel Tosh delivers a cynical, crowd-provoking hour of stand-up.

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Daniel Tosh spends a good portion of this hour reminding the audience that he does not want half of them to like him. Performing at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, he delivers his usual misdirection-heavy jokes, but with a layer of self-awareness that was largely absent from his earlier work. He knows he has spent years making a living off saying outrageous things on cable television, and he leans into that polarization, explicitly acknowledging how easily his jokes can push an audience too far.

At this point in 2016, Tosh was in the middle of the eighth season of Tosh.0, his highly successful internet-clip show. It had been five years since his last stand-up special, Happy Thoughts, and this set marked his first real on-stage response to the public controversies that had followed his career. Rather than apologizing or retreating, he addresses the backlash on his own terms. He mocks the concept of American exceptionalism, proposing that the country change its slogan to “We’re top ten” to appease terrorists, and jokes that post-9/11 airport drop-offs are actually a relief because men no longer have to walk their girlfriends to the gate.

The performance is characterized by rapid-fire transitions and a deliberate refusal to let the crowd get comfortable. He takes aim at everything from soccer’s secret clock to texting while driving, and openly manages the crowd’s reaction, warning them that if they cheer too hard at his darker material, he will shut the bit down. The special was well-received by fans who favored his stand-up over his television work, cementing his reputation as a polarizing figure who refuses to self-censor.

The set list

6 bits

  1. White

    Indicts provincial Americans who boast their country is the best without traveling, and proposes making all police officers Black in response to confrontations in Ferguson and Baltimore.

  2. Eggplant

    Addresses outcry over rape jokes, arguing that audiences can acknowledge tragic subjects while still finding humor in well-crafted jokes about them.

  3. Buff

    Tackles climate change by demanding people stop having children and compares the reluctance to adopt orphans to people adopting rescue puppies.

  4. Goldenrod

    Mocks overpriced coffee shop artwork, the American workforce, and the broader populace.

  5. Problem solving and Osama Bin Laden

    Opens the show by solving world problems and pushing taboo humor to extremes by asking the crowd to consider good deeds done by Osama Bin Laden.

  6. Road rage stories

    Concludes the performance with a pair of personal stories regarding road rage incidents.

How it plays

Tone
Dark, biting, unapologetic, sarcastic, and provocatively irreverent.
On stage
Unapologetic, charismatic 'frat bro' persona delivered with a knowing wink, masking sharp intellectual metacognition and hyper-logical debate-champ confidence.
Pace
Juvenile delivery contrasting with structured philosophical premises, barrel-rolling through taboo topics.
About
Taboo topics and offensive humor, Race and gender differences, Climate change and overpopulation, Adoption and orphanages, American society and patriotism, Police relations

What the critics said

Praised for its cleverness, unapologetic audacity, and underlying philosophical structure, though some critics noted it felt more biting and clever than consistently laugh-out-loud funny compared to earlier specials.

In the room: The crowd was occasionally quieted by Tosh's darkest hits, reacting with braced anticipation to his envelope-pushing provocations.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: danieltosh.comedydirect.com, themoviedb.org, music.apple.com, dvdtalk.com, upcomingdiscs.com, avclub.com, vulture.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, exclaim.ca.

Backstory

Filmed following controversy and debates surrounding his provocative standup material (such as rape jokes), and amidst racial tensions and confrontations with authority in cities like Ferguson and Baltimore.

Details

Released
Taped
2015, Wilshire Ebell Theatre, Los Angeles
Runtime
62 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Marcus Raboy
Topics
Before
Happy Thoughts (2011)

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