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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Red, White & Screwed
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Prime Video

Red, White & Screwed

Lewis Black

HBO Max · 2006 · 58 min

An angry breakdown over mid-2000s politics and Dick Cheney's aim.

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Lewis Black reaches the point of actual physical malfunction trying to process the news cycle. His stage presence is built entirely on escalating outrage, pacing and pointing until he hits a screaming crescendo over the sheer stupidity of the people in charge. In his sights here: a president telling a room of wounded amputee soldiers about a fight he lost with a tree, and a vice president who shot a hunting partner in the face.

Filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., the 2006 HBO hour finds Black squarely in his element. As a regular on The Daily Show during the George W. Bush years, his exasperation was a defining trait of the era’s political comedy. The venue choice itself was a reaction to the establishment. He explicitly moved the taping there after the Kennedy Center complained about his profanity count during a previous appearance. Fittingly, he dedicates a solid chunk of the set to defending adult language as a necessary release valve, wondering what else someone is supposed to say when they get fired.

He questions the logistics of a 700-mile border fence and the biblical story of Abraham. He specifically calls out creationist museums that treat a cartoon about a modern stone-age family like a historical document. The audio release of the set won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Profanity and getting banned from the Kennedy Center

    Recounts how an official counted his uses of the word 'fuck' on his previous special and wanted him to tone it down, leading him to choose the Warner Theatre instead.

  2. The 2004 presidential election and the Democratic Party

    Expresses outrage at the Democrats for failing to find a candidate capable of defeating George W. Bush, comparing it to finding a normal person who would lose in the Special Olympics.

  3. Dick Cheney's hunting mishap

    Satirizes Vice President Dick Cheney shooting another hunter in the face.

  4. The Bible, creationism, and fossils

    Critiques literalist interpretations of religion and creationism through the lens of fossil evidence and exasperation with the Old Testament God.

How it plays

Tone
Outraged, splenetic, biting, and irreverent.
On stage
Frenetic, take-no-prisoners political satirist yelling his head off with severe facial contortions and verbal tics, clad in a CPA's gray suit.
Pace
Energetic, escalating into explosive, angry rants delivered at full throttle.
About
American politics, George W. Bush administration, 2004 presidential election, Dick Cheney hunting accident, Religion and the Old Testament God, Evolution vs. creationism

What the critics said

Praised as a blistering and funny display of social satire that captures Bush-era political frustration, though critics noted certain topical bits aged quickly.

In the room: Energetic and receptive live theater crowd in the nation's capital.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: themoviedb.org, directv.com, nb.catalog.lionlibraries.org, letterboxd.com, rottentomatoes.com, ign.com, thepitchkc.com, time.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Mid-2000s George W. Bush administration political climate ('outrage overload'); taped in Washington, D.C. after Black was barred from using his original venue choice, the Kennedy Center, due to concerns over profanity.

Details

Released
Taped
Warner Theatre, Washington
Runtime
58 min
Where
HBO Max
Director
Paul Miller
Topics
Before
Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues (2005)
After
Stark Raving Black (2009)

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