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Bad Omen

Jake Flores

Stand Up! Records · 2021 · 46 min

A cynical, dirtbag-left time capsule recorded just before the chaos.

Watch on Stand Up! Records(opens in a new tab)

Jake Flores brings a distinct dirtbag-left sensibility to his 2021 digital release, Bad Omen. Originally recorded in 2018, the hour operates as an accidental time capsule from a pre-pandemic landscape, capturing a room of people who have no idea how much worse their personal and political realities are about to get.

Flores leans heavily into self-deprecation and left-wing cynicism. He addresses the real-life fallout of his infamous Cinco de Mayo Twitter joke, which prompted federal agents from Homeland Security to pay a visit to his Brooklyn apartment. His storytelling shifts from high-concept paranoia to the deeply mundane, detailing a scheme to avoid a hotel bill by staging an impromptu, apolitical sit-in at the Georgia Aquarium.

Distributed by Stand Up! Records, the set relies on Flores’s ability to juxtapose heady academic references with trashy, elder-millennial living. He discusses the panopticon and David Foster Wallace in one breath, and poppers, sex classes, and Bob Seger in the next. There is a charm to his unpolished style, especially when finding unexpected progressivism in his home state of Texas.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Texas being woke regarding gender-neutral pronouns

    Observes that Texans naturally use gender-neutral and queer terms like 'y'all', 'all y'all', and 'Howdy, partner!'

  2. Gentrified bookstore offering sex classes

    Reflects on living in a neighborhood where bookstores hold lovemaking and butt-stuff classes on Sundays

  3. Homeland Security investigation ('Cinco de Mayo')

    Recounts a federal raid on his apartment following tweets, weaving into a convoluted story regarding ICE agents

  4. Apolitical aquarium sit-ins

    Avoiding hotel expenses via an aquarium sit-in to avoid disrespecting the Civil Rights Museum

How it plays

Tone
Jaded, subversive, biographical
On stage
Biographical and observational comic who comes across as jaded, described as an 'antifa hero in a mariachi t-shirt' and 'elder millennial'
About
Pronouns and gender-neutral language in Texas, Federal investigation and raid by Homeland Security, Neighborhood quirks and gentrified bookstores, Civil rights museum vs. aquarium sit-in

What the critics said

Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site described it as a 'fun enough stand-up comedy download' with solid comedy club fare, but noted that material often fails to develop past the initial premise and found the final bit convoluted.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vimeo.com, en.kinorium.com, music.apple.com, theseriouscomedysite.com, imdb.com.

Backstory

Investigated by Homeland Security and had his apartment raided by federal agents over tweets; activist Brooklyn comic

Details

Released
Runtime
46 min
Where
Stand Up! Records
Topics

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