Bill Burr- I'm Sorry You Feel That Way
A quieter day today. Mainly been getting on with some admin and a gym workout, culminating in a blinder of an FA Cup tie between West Ham and Everton. But I had the time to watch Bill Burr's latest special, I'm Sorry You Feel That Way.
For the past couple of years I've been broadening my horizons and getting into American stand up. I began to hear Bill Burr's name being mentioned quite frequently, an act who is critically lauded and admired by my contemporaries. I found his last special, You People Are All The Same, to be comedically underpowered and misogynist in places.
But armed with a generosity of spirit (and the nagging sense that I'm not getting enough out of my Netflix subscription), I decided to give Burr another go. The 46 year old, cynical, world weary Bostonian certainly has a strong persona. And he starts strongly too with an appealing riff about giving up vegetarianism and that as a meat eater "something has to die to keep me alive". His assertion that "You can live too long" sums up his nihilist tendencies.
The show starts decently enough but a joke about transgender athletes feels like punching down, particularly when he describes a transgender MMA fighter as "a dickless dude beating the shit out of a woman". His defence that "I know that I'm a fucking moron" doesn't exactly remove the bad taste. He lacks the skill and subtlety in handling contentious subject matter of say, Louis CK
His revelation that he's now "a free agent" in relation to religion might have led to more fertile comedic ground. But when Burr talks about the notion of heaven and damnation despite being made in God's image, it feels like it's been done before and done better. Pointing out that "Scientology is dumb" is enough to get a hoot of agreement from the Atlanta crowd, who aren't quite as bad as the loud, fawning audiences who plague most US stand up specials.
At one point, Burr asks "How do you wrap your head around not existing?", a thought that I would have liked him to elaborate on. Instead, we get a routine about his new found fear of flying, his disdain for a screaming passenger leading into an elaborate fantasy about the decline of the human race. In this, he proves himself capable of a decent turn of phrase.
I suspect that ultimately Burr's worldview is too different from mine for me to get on board with. A suicidal 61 year old cancer patient who jumped out of a helicopter is described as "a real man". "50 Shades of Rape" is used as a punchline about rough sex. A routine about guns seems to go on forever with no real payoff. Like a lot of US stand up specials, it ends pretty abruptly.
It all feels a bit inconsequential. Louis CK, Patton Oswalt and Marc Maron are all covering similar territory to Burr and surpassing him both in writing and performance. It's a better show than his previous special but the hype surrounding him is still a mystery. I'm sorry to feel that way.
For the past couple of years I've been broadening my horizons and getting into American stand up. I began to hear Bill Burr's name being mentioned quite frequently, an act who is critically lauded and admired by my contemporaries. I found his last special, You People Are All The Same, to be comedically underpowered and misogynist in places.
But armed with a generosity of spirit (and the nagging sense that I'm not getting enough out of my Netflix subscription), I decided to give Burr another go. The 46 year old, cynical, world weary Bostonian certainly has a strong persona. And he starts strongly too with an appealing riff about giving up vegetarianism and that as a meat eater "something has to die to keep me alive". His assertion that "You can live too long" sums up his nihilist tendencies.
The show starts decently enough but a joke about transgender athletes feels like punching down, particularly when he describes a transgender MMA fighter as "a dickless dude beating the shit out of a woman". His defence that "I know that I'm a fucking moron" doesn't exactly remove the bad taste. He lacks the skill and subtlety in handling contentious subject matter of say, Louis CK
His revelation that he's now "a free agent" in relation to religion might have led to more fertile comedic ground. But when Burr talks about the notion of heaven and damnation despite being made in God's image, it feels like it's been done before and done better. Pointing out that "Scientology is dumb" is enough to get a hoot of agreement from the Atlanta crowd, who aren't quite as bad as the loud, fawning audiences who plague most US stand up specials.
At one point, Burr asks "How do you wrap your head around not existing?", a thought that I would have liked him to elaborate on. Instead, we get a routine about his new found fear of flying, his disdain for a screaming passenger leading into an elaborate fantasy about the decline of the human race. In this, he proves himself capable of a decent turn of phrase.
I suspect that ultimately Burr's worldview is too different from mine for me to get on board with. A suicidal 61 year old cancer patient who jumped out of a helicopter is described as "a real man". "50 Shades of Rape" is used as a punchline about rough sex. A routine about guns seems to go on forever with no real payoff. Like a lot of US stand up specials, it ends pretty abruptly.
It all feels a bit inconsequential. Louis CK, Patton Oswalt and Marc Maron are all covering similar territory to Burr and surpassing him both in writing and performance. It's a better show than his previous special but the hype surrounding him is still a mystery. I'm sorry to feel that way.
I've never seen any of his material, but have also seen him lauded. The mentioned transgender joke left me feeling cold, and the rape punchline sounds horrid. That's probably enough to stop me looking him up anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteSo after not seeing any of his work you are ready to go ahead and just write him off. All you see are the words. You don't see the delivery. You don't see the inflection. You don't realize that this is a joke making fun of homophobes. Watch it. Give it a chance. If you don't think it is funny after watching it, then let me know what you think is funny. Because I think his stuff is hilarious, and if you know of something better, then it should be amazing to me, if you think his stuff sucks after seeing it.
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