Making America Great Again!

David Cross’s first stand-up special in six years is at its most compelling when he is actively testing the limits of his crowd’s patience. Midway through the set, filmed at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, he launches into a brutally drawn-out hypothetical scenario involving an NRA-backed politician, a home invader, and “take your daughter to work day.” It’s a harrowing bit of dark satire that genuinely pushes the room to a point of audible discomfort, and the special even cuts to a shot of an audience member standing up and walking out. This is the sweet spot of the hour—less a series of tidy punchlines and more a dare to see who will stick around.

Between these heavy, uncomfortable blocks of material, the hour has a shaggy, uneven pace. Sporting a thick, unkempt beard, Cross cycles through a mix of silly wordplay, anecdotes about his family, and broad swipes at religion and American exceptionalism. It was filmed in mid-2016, just as the presidential election cycle was reaching a fever pitch, and much of the political material targeting Donald Trump has the distinct, frozen-in-time quality of that era. Critics and audiences were divided on the tone; while long-time fans of his confrontational style welcomed the cynicism, others found the set to be more preachy than funny, particularly when his rants trail off without strong punchlines.