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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for I'm Sorry You Feel That Way
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Comedy Dynamics

I'm Sorry You Feel That Way

Bill Burr

Netflix · 2014 · 80 min

An eighty-minute, black-and-white set built on aggressively defensive arguments.

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The decision to shoot in black and white mirrors the unadorned nature of the set. There is no elaborate intro or theatrical lighting, just an irritated man constructing defensive arguments for terrible ideas. Burr operates at peak efficiency here, deliberately leading his audience into tense premises (like a defense of predictably racist older celebrities or a routine from the perspective of a suicide jumper) just to see if he can talk them down.

Filmed at the Tabernacle in Atlanta in 2014, the eighty-minute Netflix release captures the comic as he transitions from a perpetually annoyed bachelor to a married man. The material reflects that shift, balancing domestic grievances like the absurdity of being kicked out of bed with a detailed hypothetical about fending off a home invasion. He also addresses his ongoing struggle to eat vegetarian twice a week, complaining that “something has to die every day in order for me to live.” Critics at the time praised the stripped-down production, noting that his hostile stage persona remained perfectly intact even as his personal life quieted down.

The set list

7 bits

  1. Escaping the zombie apocalypse in a helicopter.

    Burr discusses his secret ambition to learn to fly a getaway helicopter behind his wife's back after she shoots down the idea.

  2. The downside of childhood hugs.

    Explains how receiving too many childhood hugs might ultimately lead to the downfall of man.

  3. Media outrage over celebrity scandals (Donald Sterling, Paula Deen, Duck Dynasty).

    Burr expresses outrage at manufactured media outrage, arguing that people shouldn't be shocked by the backwards views of 80-year-old white men who grew up watching all-white baseball.

  4. Faith, religious stories, and the afterlife.

    Reflects on his inability as an adult to suspend disbelief for religious tales, joking about Jesus being a difficult neighbor in heaven as the boss's son.

  5. Struggles with abstaining from meat.

    Delivers a self-deprecating routine about needing something to violently die every single day just for him to live and eat.

  6. Shooting a .38 revolver after a landscaping job.

    Burr pauses the joke to banter with the Atlanta crowd, noting that other states burst out laughing at the gun setup while Southern audiences just stare.

  7. How rom-coms ruin sex.

    Analyzes how romantic comedies create unrealistic expectations that ruin great sexual intimacy.

How it plays

Tone
Vehement, cynical, vitriolic, and unapologetically frank.
On stage
Sharp, unwavering, confrontational, and nearly arrogant with an unapologetic, cynical demeanor.
Pace
Loud, impassioned, and consistently punchy, driven by animated delivery and a trademark shifting vocal timbre that moves from manic to infuriated.
About
religion and the afterlife, marriage and relationships, media outrage and political correctness, population control, sex and rom-coms, childhood hugs

What the critics said

Universally praised as Burr's finest hour and definitive Netflix release, with critics applauding the stark black-and-white visual minimalism, punchy material, and sharp balance between adult maturity and fiery outrage.

In the room: Raucous and engaged, marked by thunderous applause and bursts of gut laughter, though notably muted during a gun-related setup that Burr quickly acknowledged on stage.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, prnewswire.co.uk, comedydynamics.com, pastemagazine.com, voxmagazine.com, rottentomatoes.com, tvguide.com.

Backstory

Filmed in black and white during the summer of 2014; Burr addresses his new status as a married man and comments on the mid-2010s climate of media outrage surrounding figures like Donald Sterling, Paula Deen, and Phil Robertson.

Details

Released
Taped
The Tabernacle, Atlanta
Runtime
80 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Jay Karas
Topics
Before
You People Are All The Same (2012)
After
Walk Your Way Out (2017)

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