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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Rules of Enragement

Lewis Black

Comedy Central Records · Album · 2003 · 65 min

An hour of high-decibel political fury from a club stage.

Lewis Black’s stage presence is built on the physical comedy of impending stroke symptoms. Shaking his fingers and working himself into a visible lather, he screams about the absurdity of modern life until his voice cracks. It is a highly specific kind of political and social venting that found its perfect era in the anxious climate of the early 2000s.

Recorded over four nights in June 2003 at the Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the live album catches Black at the height of his post-9/11 exasperation. Already famous for his regular appearances on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, he was well-positioned to channel public frustration. The set focuses heavily on early Bush-era foreign policy, the paranoia of the Department of Homeland Security, and the logical leaps of the war in Iraq.

He balances the heavy political targets with lighter material about local weather and international travel. His opening jokes about the sheer absurdity of anyone choosing to settle in Minnesota’s freezing climate immediately win over the local club crowd. Later, a lengthy, multi-part story about traveling to Ireland and attempting to understand the local healthcare system highlights his ability to spin personal confusion into a grander critique of global society. The performance moves at a frantic clip, punctuated by a relentless barrage of profanity that averages a swear word every twenty seconds.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Clean water supply and corporate bottled water

    Mocks America's inability to maintain clean water, pointing out the absurdity of buying bottled water from Pepsi and Coke as supposed water experts.

  2. Corporate political bribery and big oil

    Rants that anyone in the audience would happily be 'big oil's bitch' if offered $31 million.

  3. Bringing democracy to Iraq

    Ridicules the concept of exporting American civics to Iraq by asking if we are just going to give them our civics books as 'crackerjack material.'

  4. The American two-party political system

    Describes the Democratic Party as the party of no ideas and the Republican Party as the party of bad ideas.

  5. Brutal Minnesota winters

    Comically examines the settling of Minnesota and expresses disbelief at how bitterly cold the winters are.

How it plays

Tone
Bitter, furious, incisive, barbed, and profane.
On stage
Gloriously bitter, high-pressured, pent-up with rage, punctuated by shaking jowls, bulging eyes, flying spittle, screaming rants, and trademark double-handed finger-jabbing.
Pace
Furious, high-decibel tempo marked by an unceasing barrage of bad karma and sudden Vesuvian eruptions of yelling.
About
Minnesota winter weather, Corporate corruption and greed, Homeland Security, The War in Iraq and bringing democracy to Iraq, Clean water and soft drink companies, Health, diet, and soymilk

What the critics said

Praised by AllMusic as capturing Black at the height of his powers with incisive political satire reminiscent of Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, and Richard Pryor. Given a 'B' by In Music We Trust, which commended his ability to put a hilarious spin on touchy subjects.

In the room: Energetic club crowd laughing enthusiastically at his profane rants about local cold weather and national politics.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, allmusic.com, wikidata.org, inmusicwetrust.com, spokesman.com.

Backstory

Recorded in mid-2003 against the backdrop of the War in Iraq, post-September 11 security concerns, Homeland Security, and corporate scandals.

Details

Released
Taped
Acme Comedy Company, Minneapolis
Runtime
65 min
Where
Comedy Central Records (album)
Topics
Before
The End of the Universe (2002)
After
Black on Broadway (2004)

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