Live comedy is not something that I generally tend to go for. One reason for this is that, compared to a gig, it seems extremely expensive - compared to paying to see a full band do their stuff, you seem to pay twice as much to see one guy on stage with a microphone. Maybe thinking up all of those jokes is an expensive business. Anyway, I decided to break my "no comedy" rule to go to see Chris Rock, a very funny American man whose routines that I've seen on TV seemed very good. Given that, generally, I don't find much American "comedy" all that funny (how on EARTH is Friends allowed to be called a "comedy"?), this was unusual indeed.
Of course, I did wonder how Chris Rock's material, much of which is US-focussed, and some of which just wouldn't be understood outside America, would go down with a British audience - or indeed whether he would adapt his set for us. Anyway, after the disaster at Tottenham a couple of days previously, any amusement was needed to lift the gloom.
After a half hour routine from a supporting comedian, who was vaguely funny at times, Chris Rock appeared to a background of some booming and very loud music. The initial part of his show included some jokes about his time so far in the UK – the fact that our money is worth loads (certainly when you compare it to US Dollars); the fact that British people drink a lot, that kind of thing – to try to endear himself to the audience early on. This seemed to work very well, and he got a good few rounds of applause in the early minutes of the show.
After about 10 minutes of that, he settled into what seemed like a pretty normal Chris Rock show. The subject matter started with the US Presidential Election, then the mention of Barack Obama gave plenty of chance to start talking about black people and white people, before finally ending up with a routine talking about the difference between men and women. Some of the jokes were familiar, and you could see them coming a mile off – but others came like a bolt from the blue, totally unexpected, and that was a good part of the comedy value.
The show went on for very nearly 2 hours, and despite a few dips where it seemed to get stuck on something not all that funny, was very enjoyable. We learnt that 4 black people live in Chris Rock’s neighbourhood – him, Mary J Blige, Jay Z, and Denzil Washington. He told us that, after 8 years with a retarded president, America was certainly ready for a black or female one. And, he reminded us that women, especially black women (apparently) want everything, all the time.
A very enjoyable night out, and a nice earner for Chris Rock – after selling out about a dozen dates in the UK this month (including 2 in a day at Brixton Academy), he is coming back in May, to play a show at the O2, to 20000 people. As comedy shows go, that is a pretty big one.
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