tweet review - #mnfringe show 11 - Chris Davis Does Stuff/Just Black Enough: skewering stereotypes and semantics, banning books improv-style, deconstructing which lives matter and the unfortunate naming of buildings, Davis' comedy may be laid back but it still hits all its targets - 5 stars
Stand-up comedy is all over the place. Good stand-up comedy is rare. Good stand-up comedy that deals with thorny topics like race relations or sexuality is even rarer. So I’m very glad that comedian Chris Davis made the trip up from Alabama to do a couple of his shows for us. Opening weekend of the Fringe was his show “Just Black Enough” and closing weekend of the Fringe he’ll be presenting “Seriously, I’m Not Gay.” I saw the first one, and now I really want to go back to Strike Theater and see the second one as well.
“You don’t sound like us, Muppet!”
I will endeavor not to spoil the punchlines for you (though as I type this, the final performance of “Just Black Enough” happens this evening, Monday, and I have no ability to spoil the second show "Seriously, I'm Not Gay" on closing weekend because I haven’t seen it yet). Davis’ laid back style puts his largely white Minnesotan audience at ease, which is great for allowing his jokes to sneak up on us and be that much funnier because of the surprise.
“Ultimate Frisbee. It’s like regular frisbee but we ruin it with rules.”
The show "Just Black Enough" is split up into sections with titles like Stereotypes, White Lives Matter, Semantics Make Everything Taste Better, We’ve Made a Graves Mistake (no that’s not a typo), and Hey,What About Me? There’s a little improvisational comedy in the section called “Book Make Me Sad” when he asks the audience to shout out the name of any book and he’ll come up with a ridiculous reason to ban it. Great fun to be had there. And as you might imagine from those section titles, there’s also a lot to think about between those jokes.
“He was a leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Like you do.”
The two Chris Davis Does Stuff shows are sort of a cross between a stand-up routine and a solo show. Basically a much funnier than usual solo show. And a much more thoughtful stand-up routine, with a larger, overarching theme behind it. I appreciate comedy that requires that my brain still be turned on and not off. Chris Davis delivers the laughs I need, and the insight I wasn’t expecting. Can’t ask for more than that from a good Fringe show. Now I need to plan that return trip for closing weekend…
5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended
Here's some handy links to a rundown of 5 and 4.5 Star shows I've seen this year, also the 4 and 3.5 Star shows, and the rest, plus this year's Top 10 list, and Top 11-20 List, and the full list of all returning favorites in the 2023 Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment