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Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Jimmy Shubert - Topic

Zero Tolerance

Jimmy Shubert

Stand Up! Records · 2019 · 57 min

A veteran comic rants against smartphones, Yelp, and therapy cats.

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Jimmy Shubert has spent decades on the stand-up circuit, and by the time he taped this hour, his stage persona had crystallized into that of a modern-day Archie Bunker. Stalking the stage in a sharp suit, Shubert directs a loud, exasperated rasp at the minor absurdities of 21st-century life, directing his irritation at therapy cats, self-checkout lanes, and stand-up paddle-board yoga. Released by Stand Up! Records in 2019, the set plays like a theatrical presentation of blue-collar grievance. Shubert, a veteran of Sam Kinison’s Outlaws of Comedy and a seasoned character actor, leans heavily into physical exasperation, pacing and shouting to treat modern culture with aggressive disbelief.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Emotional support animals and therapy cats on airplanes

    Ranting about passengers bringing animals onto flights because they are afraid to fly, creating the feeling of being trapped in a psych ward at 30,000 feet.

  2. Modern male grooming and wellness fads

    Questioning stand-up paddle-board yoga, ball deodorant, and contemporary lifestyle products with incredulity.

  3. Hiking in a canyon with a girlfriend

    Expressing reluctant frustration over hiking when not wanting to, including encounters with municyclists.

  4. Customer service and supermarket self-checkout

    Venting relatable outrage at modern retail expectations and having to scan one's own groceries.

  5. The dairy aisle and yogurt selection

    Highlighting the overwhelming proliferation and changes in dairy and yogurt products over the years.

  6. The travails women endure to make themselves pretty

    A two-minute rant breaking down beauty regimens leading to an unpredictable punchline finish.

How it plays

Tone
Caustic, ranting, aggressive, and irreverent, yet finding glee in human foibles and relatable everyday frustrations.
On stage
A bold, brash, sly blue-collar 'working man's man' in a well-cut, pick-stitched suit with a native Philadelphia rasp, channeling the outlook of a modern-day Archie Bunker and pop-culture iconoclast.
Pace
High-energy and physical; stalks, gestures, and shouts to the rafters with wild-eyed intensity while carefully balancing the rage in his rants.
About
therapy cats and emotional support animals on planes, smartphones and digital life, male grooming and ball deodorant, customer service and self-checkout, hiking and modern fitness fads, the evolution of the dairy section

What the critics said

Praised by critics as a masterclass in relatable rant comedy, balancing righteous fury with target-level accuracy and comic precision.

In the room: A beautifully lit, highly engaged audience finding therapeutic release and venting their own frustrations through shared laughter.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: joeydiaz.net, jimmyshubert.com, tahoedailytribune.com, theseriouscomedysite.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, phillyfamouspodcast.libsyn.com.

Backstory

Filmed pre-pandemic in front of a live audience, focusing on pushback against modern trends, progressivism, and everyday technological and consumer absurdities.

Details

Released
Runtime
57 min
Where
Stand Up! Records
Honors
#1 on the iTunes comedy charts
Topics
Before
Comedy Central Presents (2004)

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