“Every day is more of a celebration of just how great the people of the planet are,” comedian Lewis Black responded to the obligatory ‘How are you?’ question to open a recent phone interview with CleveRock ahead of his upcoming appearance at MGM Northfield Park on Friday, October 20. (For the uninitiated to Black’s angry comedian persona, that is unequivocal sarcasm.)
One of the funniest (if not angriest) comedians on the planet, Black is fresh off of his 2023 YouTube special, Tragically, I Need You. He is one of the biggest road warriors in the comedy realm, making frequent appearances in the area.
The former Daily Show correspondent phoned CleveRock’s hotline ahead of his show in the area to give us the scoop on his new special and share his thoughts on a variety of topics, but not before revealing his disdain for the upcoming Halloween holiday.
Fans of Black have undoubtedly seen his classic bit that roasts the worst sweet treat of all time, candy corn.
“It’s really disgusting,” Black reiterates. “And now, it’s everywhere. I mean, they put it in everything and it doesn’t even phase them. Candy corn syrup for your pancakes? Are you serious?”
According to Lewis, candy corn isn’t the only thing wrong with Halloween.
“It’s a kid’s holiday. It’s not for adults,” he said emphatically. “Adults, as I said time and again; adults can dress up anytime they want; any costume they want. They can do it on November 5th and if they want to dress up like Batman, great! Go for it. Who cares? But it’s for the kids. It’s the one day that we allow kids to dress up and so we should be doing that. Once again, the adults swoop in and try to take it away from them. Idiots!”
As for Tragically, I Need You, the special is classic Lewis! While seeing one’s favorite band in concert, hearing familiar songs has a wonderful, comforting feeling. Comedy shows? Not so much! If patrons already know the punchlines, what’s the point?
“About a third of the special, I kept, because everybody doesn’t watch it,” Black explained. “I tried probably even less, a quarter of what I was doing when I went back out was from the special and everything else was new and not new. Some of it was stuff that I couldn’t put in the special because I mean, basically what happens is I’m working by doing the special, and then meanwhile, in order to do it so I don’t get bored, keep adding stuff. There are a couple of pieces in particular that I’m going to do in Cleveland that I’ve been holding out of two specials because they didn’t fit. Now they fit.”
As for his decision to release the special on the free YouTube platform, Black said:
“Everybody told me to do it. I’m not supposed to say this, probably they’ll yell at me, but I think there are certain advantages to having it on the other platforms. The reason it didn’t bother me to have it on this platform that it was the fact that I could give it away for free. That was really important and it was easily accessible and there were no commercials; no nothing. They said more people would watch it. Hopefully, more people did watch it. I don’t think more people watched it, but what do I know? I’m just a comic.”
A playwright by trade, Black was asked if he would consider writing another script in 2023 and, if so, what the theme would be.
“I’m thinking of writing it as the, basically Our Town, it’s a Thornton Wilder play, and I want to write the modern version of Our Town. A lot of the characters would be talking to each other over the phone. I found a way that I think I could represent that once I saw that. I would be what it would be like now. That’s what I would write,” he answered. “I’d write that and I’d write things about the office about working in an office or living in an assisted living situation, which I watched my parents do. There are all sorts of things I’m probably going to do next year.”
With all the crazies in Washington DC, it will be tough for Lewis to pen a play with characters more crazy than our real-life electees.
“My job is to be crazier than what I’ve seen. I’m now pushed to the limit,” he said. “It’s beyond belief. These guys can’t figure out how to elect. We were better at governing ourselves in high school. They can’t figure out who to be the leader; to be the speaker of the house. What is the matter with you? Really? It’s appalling. It’s beyond belief. There’s no way you kind of just stand there and go, ‘Wow, these people are crazy and I don’t think I can be crazier than them!”
Speaking specifically about Colorado’s Republican US Representative, Lauren Boebert:
“She’s getting felt up by what she said was a Democrat while watching Beetlejuice in the theater. She’s talking and getting felt up. I’ve not read that in a newspaper. You can’t make this stuff up.”
“I do wear a mask in crowded places,” he revealed. “Watch this, I’m going to say something and then the response will be from certain people, ‘I’m not going to see him.’ I do wear a mask in certain situations where if I go into a crowded kind of a building and stuff, I’ve got as safe as you could be because a lot of the people who come to see me generally are vaccinated. I feel like most of the time, everybody’s given their best shot. And a lot of the audience, which may not have been vaccinated, had it two or three or four times. Some people have had a shot and then they had it two times. I feel bad because I’m not going out to meet the audience afterward because of it. Normally, I would go out and sign things and do that. I’m waiting for the day in which I feel that I’m comfortable doing that.”
Black will be competing with several other comedy options in Northeast Ohio the night he is in town, with Chelsea Handler at Playhouse Square, Chris D’Elia at The Agora, and Kelsey Cook at Hilarities Fourth Street Theatre. Lewis wasn’t overjoyed when this information was passed along to him.
“Perfect. That’s my agents at work,” he joked. “That’s just tremendous.”
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