Baseless Arrogance

Mike Polk Jr. works with the specific weariness of a comic who has spent years performing in Northeast Ohio and sees no reason to pretend he is anywhere else. The centerpiece is a twelve-minute account of accidentally following Eddie Money on tour, turning a scheduling mix-up into a dry study of washed-up rock circuits. He treats smaller indignities with similar irritation, including having a childhood peanut allergy bullied out of him and surviving a dry wedding reception. Recorded in 2015 at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood, Ohio, the 67-minute audio set was released by Comedy Dynamics in May 2016 and briefly reached number three on the iTunes comedy chart. Polk had already built a loyal following through viral sketches about local civic misery and regular Northeast Ohio television appearances. He wraps the set with ‘Spanish Love Song,’ a bilingual novelty track from his sketch work that he once performed for Kim Kardashian on Telemundo.