Stand Up, Don't Shoot!
Showtime · 2017 · 62 min
Nick Cannon abandons his polite TV persona to discuss race.
Nick Cannon paces the stage holding a microphone styled like a handgun, performing in front of a backdrop of photos of himself at anti-police brutality rallies. It is an immediate, aggressive pivot away from his day job as the clean-cut host of America’s Got Talent. The core of the set is Cannon tearing down his own lucrative mainstream image, laying bare the polite compromises required to protect what he calls his ‘white money’ while dropping enough profanity and racial commentary to deliberately shock anyone who only knew him from network television.
Filmed in December 2016 at the Ebony Repertory Theatre in South Central Los Angeles, the special premiered on Showtime in February 2017. The fallout from the broadcast was immediate and highly publicized. NBC executives reportedly threatened to fire Cannon over his sharp jabs at the network, specifically a bit where he joked that the network’s name stood for a racial slur. Rather than apologize or self-censor, Cannon pre-emptively quit his hosting gig on America’s Got Talent, turning this hour of stand-up into a major turning point in his career.
Beyond the corporate criticism, Cannon spends the hour trying to bridge the gap between his high-profile celebrity life and his community roots. He riffs on the absurdities of the ‘All Lives Matter’ movement by comparing it to trying to save all the other fish when someone is screaming to save the whales. He also offers up some tabloid-friendly gossip, sharing how an ill-fated family trip to Australia served as the final straw that ended his marriage to Mariah Carey.
The special received mixed reviews, with critics noting that Cannon’s massive celebrity sometimes distracted from the actual stand-up, which relied heavily on loose crowd interaction. In one of the show’s loose moments, he halts his set to kiss a middle-aged white woman in the front row and riffs with rapper Too $hort, who happened to be sitting in the crowd.
The set list
-
All Lives Matter retort to Black Lives Matter
Uses the analogy of 'Save the Whales' to argue that advocating for whales does not mean 'fuck all the other fish'.
-
NBC restrictions and America's Got Talent
Jokes that NBC stands for 'N****r Better Come on' and laments how his hosting job cost him his 'real n****r card' because he cannot say what he truly thinks without messing up the 'white money'.
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Divorce from Mariah Carey
Describes their separation, claiming an incident during a trip to Australia was 'the straw that broke the kangaroo's back' in their marriage, while taking aim at Wendy Williams.
-
Dick Gregory's mentorship
Recounts consulting pioneering comedian and activist Dick Gregory for advice outside the White House about tackling controversial topics and using the N-word on stage.
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The closer (spoiler). Show it
Women and 'good dick though'
Repeatedly pushes the catchphrase that women will forgive mistreatment as long as they get 'good dick though', ending with a final barb directed at Mariah Carey before dropping the mic.
How it plays
- Tone
- Aggressive, provocative, candid, satirical, and self-deprecating.
- On stage
- Brash, swaggering, and loose celebrity persona combining braggadocio with goofy silliness; performed dressed in all black, leather jacket with 'FREEDOM' on the back, knit cap, African pendant necklace, and carrying a microphone styled after a handgun.
- Pace
- High-energy and freewheeling, bouncing and pinballing around the stage with an aggressive delivery reminiscent of Def Comedy Jam.
- About
- Police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, Race relations and corporate network censorship, Divorce from Mariah Carey, Aging, romance, and dating, Barack Obama versus Donald Trump, Street credibility versus mainstream celebrity
What the critics said
Critics found that Cannon's mainstream celebrity profile heavily overshadowed his stand-up comedy, citing an awkward disconnect between his aggressive delivery and a lukewarm audience response, though some praised his poignant analogies regarding Black Lives Matter.
In the room: Muted and hesitant; reviewers noted the crowd consisted heavily of America's Got Talent fans who were not fully laughing or receptive to his abrasive, raw club material.
Backstory
Filmed in South Central Los Angeles against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, Cannon's recent divorce from pop star Mariah Carey, and creative friction with NBC network executives regarding his squeaky-clean image on America's Got Talent.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- Ebony Repertory Theatre, Los Angeles
- Runtime
- 62 min
- Where
- Showtime
- Director
- Gil Cunha
- Topics
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