Lewis Black: Old Yeller - Live at the Borgata

Sometimes you need historical perspective.

Robin Williams, no longer with us.

Don Rickles, still here, still funny, more icon than anything else.

Bill Cosby, no longer doing stand-up, he now does sit-down, and he has some image issues.

Richard Jeni, one of the greatest comic talents I have ever seen, took his own life, ostensibly because only a few of us saw just how good he was. (Like Williams, he had issues).

Alan King, the first story-teller that dedicated the last few years of his career to explaining the process of "growing old," long gone.

George Carlin, the man credited with creating "observational comedy" (George once appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, the most prestigious gig in the WORLD at that time, and said nothing for the entire spot, just dead air -- Google it) gone. Besides, in the last few years of his career he was mainly doing movie cameos and rants.

Black, middle-aged, is younger than most of the comics listed above but his style is old-school. He is not a punch-line guy, he engages, he slowly but carefully brings you into his world, gets you nice and comfy, and then, makes you laugh.

Black, one of the hardest working guys in the biz, is from the Carlin school. He admits that, early on, he found his material got more punch if he pretended to get angry, the gimmick worked, and BANG, there was an act, a career.

This is not his best special. As with all comics of his style, his best material is his early material where he went after the "easy" targets -- doctors, airplanes, bottled water.

And just like Carlin, as Black matures, the line between "bits" and "rants" gets ever thinner.

But, to come full circle to where I started, he could easily be one of the last great living exponents of a dying art.

You merely have to tune in any recent Comedy Central roast to see the direction that standup is headed in.

Another reviewer said this is not a show to bring your parents to, which in fact, Black did.

The reviewer got it backwards. This is precisely what you want to bring your parents to in order to show what you have done with your life.

Now, those Comedy Central Roasts, that's quite another matter entirely.

65 year old Lewis Black gives the AARP POV to the standard comedy topics of technology, travel ("not every state deserves to be a state"), masturbation ("whenever I hear someone say they work from home, I know what they mean") and other staples. Black trades more on his crazed Uncle delivery than he does on actual material but he does it well enough to be watchable. As a bonus, we get to see his parents. At 95 and 94 years old respectively, the elder Blacks apparently were dragged out of the casino to dutifully sit through their son's set at Atlantic City's Borgata (it probably beats having to watch him jump off the high dive). Some of the funnier moments of the show occur when the camera catches them not actually paying attention probably a blessing on some of Black's raunchier passages. In short, while not very original, Black brings a diverse perspective to social media topics in a media dominated by thirty-somethings.

I've been a huge fan of Lewis over the years. This outing at the Borgata proves Black has lost some funny over the years.

Not that he's not funny. He is. Just not as sharp or witty or cutting edge as he once was.

I suspect if you are a casual or new fan you'd likely think this show was great. It's not tho, when compared to his earlier work. He's an odd guy. He was married for like 36 hours once. No kidding.

Still like him.

I like Lewis Black's stand-up act, though I have two reservations. First, he is NOT family-friendly and uses TONS of crude language. This would NOT be a terrific show to watch with your mom (though Black's mother and father were there for this particular show) or kids or Father O'Reilly. Trust me on this. Second, though I love his abrasive humor, I can only take it on occasional doses because he is so incredibly negative. Yes, he's usually RIGHT about how screwed up things are and how stupid people can be, but a steady dose off Black might make me too cynical and grumpy. These being said, "Old Yeller" is yet another wonderful routine from Black. His abrasive, angry and negative act is VERY insightful and I especially loved his insight into how his generation has NO IDEA what they are talking about and how they have opinions about EVERYTHING regardless of this! Very funny and well worth seeing.