Reviewing Wyatt Cenac “Comedy Person”
August 22, 2011 Blake Garris Albums, Reviews, Wyatt Cenac
If you’re one of those people who is just “kind of” a nerd, like enough of a nerd where you can still carry on a conversation without alienating your average-everyday person, then comedian Wyatt Cenac is just like you.
Best known as the current resident black expert/correspondent on The Daily Show, but Cenac also did time as a writer for King Of the Hill, and at [adult swim]. Hell, he was even considered for a role on Saturday Night Live to be their in-house Barrack Obama (which he lost out to Fred Armiesn). However, Cenac recently ventured back to his roots with the stand-up special Comedy Person.
What can be said about Comedy Person? Well, Cenac starts off with his love for television and comic books with a healthy concern for those that don’t share the same interest. He loves TV so much that he recounts a story of a guy he met at a party who stated, “I don’t watch TV, I have better things to do,” which Cenac then reflects the only way someone who loves TV would, “I felt bad because I thought ‘well maybe he’s poor?'”
One of the stronger bits on the album is about Medieval Times, more specifically, the idea of Medieval Times as a destination for a man his age and its lack of fulfilling actual Medieval practices. He pins it all together with the visual that the same place that hosts an 11-year old’s party probably shouldn’t be the same place that should host a 30 year old’s birthday party.
Cenac also addresses cats, well web cat videos; dissecting the philosophical underpinnings of why people love cat videos and watch them online, which to be honest, is everyone. It’s not surprising most of Cenac’s material draws on the meta nature of pop culture, he does after all, spend his day shift writing and examining it in one of pop culture’s biggest and most admired comedy shows.
Some other highlights? How about how there were no real panthers in the Black Panther party. “Now granted, they accomplished a lot. But a real panther can affect serious change.” And how Michael Jordan has no real friends because a real friend wouldn’t let him leave the house with a Hitler mustache (seriously MJ, What were you thinking?)
So to recap: Wyatt Cenac’s observations are witty, smart, and a must explore for any fan of The Daily Show or anyone who’s spent time on the web watching cat videos (which is everyone). Cenac’s appeal is immediate, welcoming, and broad without being simple. But if you’d like that simpler – If you hate and like things too and also have opinions then you should probably pick up Comedy Person on August 23rd on CD and DVD. If you don’t hate and like stuff and have opinions then you’re probably a cyborg and when the robot apocalypse comes please be kind to me.
