Sentenced to Live

Jimmy Dore’s brand of political outrage was already well-defined by the time he took the stage at the El Portal Theater in Los Angeles, even if his departure from mainstream progressive circles was still a few years away. In 2015, Dore was a regular on The Young Turks network, having recently released a book about the media and Wall Street. His performance here channels that same populist frustration, focusing on the corruption of corporate news, bought politicians, and systemic dysfunction.

Dore’s performance is most effective when he pairs his loud, anti-establishment anger with self-deprecation. He targets the TSA and the general state of American welfare, but he also loops back to his personal life, detailing what it is like growing up as one of twelve siblings in a chaotic household.

One of the more memorable stretches of the set has nothing to do with Washington gridlock. Instead, he recounts a medical scare involving drinking massive quantities of beet juice, which led to a minor emergency room panic. It is a moment of low-stakes physical comedy that highlights the weird domestic anxieties behind his loud public persona.