"It always scares me when people are more excited to see me than I ever f-cking have been to see myself."
Thus did comedian Lewis Black greet an enthusiastic Tufts audience at the Spring Comedy Show in Cohen Auditorium last Thursday. Black, who has become well known for his stints on Comedy Central's Daily Show, and who was just nominated for "Best Male Standup Comic" in Comedy Central's American Comedy Awards, had the crowd laughing for a full hour with his profane commentary and volatile personality.
During his performance, Black ridiculed everything from Jumbo to Super Bowl half-time shows to Heaven's Gate. Much of the humor in the show resulted from Black's colorful use of profanity. "In New York City, where I've obviously lived too long, 'f-ck' is not a word... it's a comma," he explained.
Black's show was not just about spewing profanity, however. He also threw in plenty of political commentary. He criticized Vice President Dick Cheney for voting against the Clean Water Act and for taking campaign contributions from an oil company. And of course, what comedian could resist ridiculing this past year's presidential election? "Whoever [voters] saw last," Black said, "they voted for the other guy." When he later mentioned Hilary Clinton's name, there were a few cheers from the audience, which prompted a disturbed Black to retreat into the corner of the stage, declaring that that had never before happened to him while doing standup.
At another point in the show, when Black used Alzheimer's disease as a punch line to a joke, he wasn't satisfied with the audience's reaction. He ran off the stage into the aisle of the auditorium and chastised the Tufts audience for not appreciating the joke. "That is PC bullsh-t," he said, "You can laugh at anything you f-cking want to laugh at."
Most of the Tufts audience enjoyed Black's explosive humor, and it was clear that he already had some fans in the audience when they shouted out favorite Comedy Central bits that they wanted to see performed.
Black was preceded by local comic Robbie Prince, who had the crowd laughing as he poked fun at tollbooth workers, weightlifting, and corporal punishment.
