Skip to content
Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Helium Comedy Studios

Stupid Don't Get Tired

Alonzo Bodden

YouTube · 2022 · 47 min

A veteran comic takes on the tireless energy of modern ignorance.

Watch on YouTube(opens in a new tab)

or watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Alonzo Bodden has spent decades watching the news, but in Stupid Don’t Get Tired, he has reached a state of exasperated exhaustion with public intelligence. The veteran comic focuses his energy on the modern phenomenon where the least informed people also happen to have the most stamina. He doesn’t just mock misinformation; he examines the sheer work ethic required to stay wrong. Recorded live at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia, the 2022 special captures Bodden during a busy stretch of his career, which includes his long-running gig as a dependable regular on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!. That news-junkie perspective shapes the performance as he tackles pandemic-era anomalies, from ‘pandemic dogs’ to the circular logic of anti-vaxxers, with a relaxed, conversational presence. He also spends time on sports, leaning into his history as a long-suffering fan of the Los Angeles Clippers to find some humility amidst the cultural chaos.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Wearing masks during the pandemic as a large Black man

    Bodden jokes about loving masks because as a big bald Black man he can legally wear any mask anywhere, even into a bank with a welding mask

  2. Winter Olympics versus Summer Olympics

    Explains how watching Winter Olympic sports like bobsled, curling, and luge makes regular people feel they could compete, and using obscure athletic claims to pick up women

  3. Stupid Don't Get Tired and the fight against anti-vaxxers

    Argues that smart people and scientists cannot beat anti-vaxxers because 'stupid don't get tired,' contrasting pre-internet culture where people who did not know things stayed quiet with the internet connecting and weaponizing them

How it plays

Tone
Sharp-witted, scathing yet hilarious, cynical and charming
On stage
Observational, cynical yet charming, with a commanding stage presence
Pace
Focused delivery
About
COVID-19 pandemic and masks, Anti-vaxxers and the persistence of stupidity, Winter Olympics versus Summer Olympics, The internet and the emboldening of ignorance

What the critics said

Praised as a sharp-witted special capturing Bodden at his best, delivering a scathing yet hilarious dissection of modern culture and human folly

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: certifiedbootleg.com, watchwhatwhere.com, crooksandliars.com, en.wikipedia.org, pro.imdb.com, alonzobodden.com.

Backstory

Filmed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing pandemic restrictions, mask mandates, and vaccine debates

Details

Released
Taped
Helium Comedy Club, Philadelphia
Runtime
47 min
Where
YouTube
Director
Jimmy Chairman
Topics
Before
Heavy Lightweight (2019)

More from Alonzo Bodden

If you liked this