Noted Expert
Epix · 2016 · 60 min
Smug, self-aware stand-up from a veteran of cult sketch comedy.
Michael Ian Black has spent decades perfecting a stage persona built entirely on smug, self-aware smarm. He treats the stage as a platform for theatrical self-satisfaction, turning cheap wordplay into a recurring performance. When he introduces the topic of abortion as a ‘very fertile topic for comedy,’ he does not just deliver the pun; he bows, revels in the audience’s mixed reaction, and then repeats the entire sequence to make sure they feel the irony. Taped at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, this 2016 performance marked Black’s return to stand-up after a multi-year hiatus. He addresses his time away by claiming he has been occupied with his primary professional skill of getting television shows canceled, which is a self-deprecating nod to his long history of cult projects like Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. The material also touches on his affection for the pop band Hanson, the concept of white privilege during a minor traffic arrest, and the absurdity of using ‘viability’ to define human life when actual babies cannot survive without constant help. The show highlights his penchant for crowd work when he asks the crowd for jail stories, leading to an impromptu, bizarrely real conversation with a spectator who spent time in prison as an accidental terrorist.
The set list
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Puppy montage cold open
Attempts to prove his warmth and lovability by opening with an unctuous sketch where puppies lick butter off his face, which quickly unravels.
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Pro-choice and abortion debate
Introduces abortion as a 'very fertile topic for comedy,' repeatedly bowing to savor his own hacky wordplay before deconstructing pro-life definitions of 'viability' by comparing newborns to pizzas.
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Amusement park Tilt-A-Whirl
Details an agonizing Tilt-A-Whirl ride with his son where he struggles desperately not to reveal physical weakness or nausea.
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Checkpoint sobriety stop and arrest
Narrates being pulled over and arrested on a trip back to Connecticut over a household oversight, pausing to poll the audience on their own arrest records.
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Suburban dream home construction
Frames building a house with his wife as constructing an architectural dream of the future, juxtaposing offensive self-aggrandizement with the reality of inevitable familial disappointment.
How it plays
- Tone
- Deadpan, wry, cynical, self-deprecating, and ironically smug.
- On stage
- Equal parts dapper and deadpan; an ironic, smarmy show-biz phony radiating condescension and self-importance while constantly undercutting himself with self-aware humiliation.
- Pace
- Alternates between booming, beaming showmanship and dry, offhand delivery, using odd voices and animated inflections.
- About
- parenting and children, gender roles and sexism, marriage and domestic life, abortion debate and definitions of life, guilty pleasures, getting arrested
What the critics said
Praised by critics as prime Michael Ian Black, demonstrating his mastery of ironic smarm and anti-comic showmanship to elevate domestic and political subject matter.
In the room: An engaging, self-aware dynamic where the audience trades ironic groans and laughter with Black, actively participating when questioned about personal arrest stories.
Backstory
Drawing from his 17-year marriage and family life in suburban Connecticut, as well as his recurring persona as a veteran of canceled television series and sketch comedy.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- John Jay College, New York City
- Runtime
- 60 min
- Where
- Epix
- Director
- Ryan Polito
- Topics
- After
- First Annual Retirement Special (2026)
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First Annual Retirement Special
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