Red, White & Screwed

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 He specifically calls out creationist museums that treat a cartoon about a modern stone-age family like a historical document.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.