In God We Rust

Lewis Black knows his comedy is an acquired taste. He opens In God We Rust by issuing a content warning to anyone unaccustomed to his particular frequency of rage, actively agreeing with anyone in the room who might not find him amusing. What follows is exactly what he promises. Black uses the hour to air his exhaustion with a modern world he simultaneously relies on and despises.

Filmed at the State Theatre in Minneapolis in 2011 and released the following year, the special captures the comedian at a point where his status as the country’s preeminent angry citizen was firmly cemented. The Minnesota crowd gets a localized jab when he brings up Michele Bachmann, earning a mixed reaction that he seems to welcome. He spends a significant chunk of the set complaining about the digital annoyances of the era, specifically FarmVille, the Verizon Droid, and the bewildering nature of smartphone apps. In one notable bit, he points out that even during a bad LSD trip, he never felt compelled to ask a rotary phone for directions. He also devotes time to the logistical absurdity of placing Valentine’s Day in the middle of peak flu season.