Michael Che: Shame the Devil

I actually liked Che's laid back tone in this one compared to Matters. It's not gonna be a good match for those looking for more energy... But I liked it.

Che is a pretty easy person to listen to, as a result, I got a little fooled the first time around. Rewatching it, it's clear to me he had about 25-35 minutes of true material, (things he wanted to say and original bit ideas he had)

And in fairness, that stuff's pretty strong.

I would recommend watching 44:30 to the end, the first joke's not gonna be for everyone, but it transitions well into the topic he wants to talk about, and he meshes comedy with commentary (and his trademark hint of almost child like silliness) very well. There's a glimpse of the kind of top-tier comic Che could be one day.

But there's just too much times on apologizing/qualifying jokes, or doing played out bits on overdone topics he clearly wrote in less then an hour, and "sorry not sorry'ing" past events. I get being more introspective comes with the type of tone he has for the special, but it's still too much, even before accounting the how it clashes with the silliness he likes to maintain thru-out.

Che's a talented guy, I imagine it's hard to have 60 minutes of gold material when you're writing on a weekly comedy show year round. But hopefully this is his lesson to make sure the show is ready when it's time to film.

I think the reviews here are a bit harsh. The show was better than what I read here. I didn't like everything, and started to have serious doubts when he began to rant about only vaccinated people could attend his show, but in all fairness, and that even if I totally disagree with some of his viewpoints, I had some good laughs afterwards. Mostly because of his sarcastic jokes, which in my humble opinion are always the best, but even with the inevitable racism jokes that have to be told by black comedians. I'm always waiting for those jokes, and they are most of the time spot on and funny, but let just say they are very predictable when you are watching a black comedian. I totally get it that they want to joke about it, I'm just waiting to see one black comedian that won't do any jokes about that. That said, Shame The Devil isn't that bad at all, that is if you get sarcasm.

He is low-key but it works. He almost tries to keep the jokes from getting too out of hand, which goes against the logic of a comedian. And his subject matter is pretty much what Dave Chappelle hits on. Long story short, I will be watching more of his stuff.

I can laugh at most viewpoints and perspectives but the jokes have to come first. This isn't exactly a woke special, but it feels like it's in the same vain. Too many comedians are trying to speak truth and sneak in jokes here and there. I think it's better if the truth you wish to speak is snuck in between the jokes. I was rooting for him but after the halfway mark I realized he wasn't setting anything good up, this is just the special. Turned it off after 30 minutes.

The bravest performance of a come back after five years I have ever seen. After seeing Carline on stage in person five times I will put Michael Che there. Michael is seamless and heartfelt with delivery of the greats I have watched him on SNL but this was a true delight.

Sincerely, John Fitzgerald Bruce.