Michael Che Matters

Let me preface this by saying that I love political humour. It doesn't matter who the target of it is: Left,Right, Black, or White. Michael Che's shtick is poltical/social commentary humour. He says almost nothing remotely funny, new, or interesting that would make you think. Hackjob at it's finest.

First of all this did not age well at all. Watching in 2020 and hearing his political takes were honestly sobering. Fifty percent of his set had me in stitches laughing so hard, and the other fifty percent had me wincing waiting for the bit to end. I don't think I'd recommend the whole special to my friends, but I'll definitely pick and share favorite parts in the future. Overall, it's worth a gamble if you're bored

It's from 2016, which nowadays in comedy means more or less 40 years in real time, so, certain bits are already dated, or have been approached later in time, more polished and with other care in matters of previous study. Talking about politics or gun control, particularly in stand-up, can be a slippery slope, and I think that's what happens here. There are funny moments, but others where you can that there is a certain disassociation from the audience, which immediately compromises the rest of the show.

Michael Che mines territory that is a faint 2010s echo of the late great Lenny Bruce. No, Michael Che is not Lenny Bruce, but he gets a lot of mileage out of making people uncomfortable when they want to laugh at something that is funny but crosses a line they've made for themselves.

The other review of this show must not have a special ax to grind with Che, because gun control occupies a short segment, that going into statistics misses the whole point of humor--making us laugh at things that are uncomfortable or painful. Overall, Che does a pretty good job of this.

I'd give this more stars if there weren't a couple of points where the pacing dragged. And I'd give it fewer stars if this were a fair rating system. I know though, that 8 is the new "average," and if it isn't at least an 8 or a 9, people won't watch this, and it really is a pretty damn funny hour of stand up.

For those used to Che as the anchor on Weekend Update or his brief turn on the Daily Show, this is Michael Che Unplugged. He's more raw, more raunchy, and he works slightly blue, but not to the exclusion of intelligent humor. He uses "blue" to good effect, keeping the audience in Brooklyn and the audience at home a little off balance.

views, it's obvious who he's going after.

The only problem is that his plan backfired, because he doesn't have enough backing from those who share her views -- they're also unwilling to stand behind this humiliating, self-destructive effort.

I honestly don't know if he can recover from this and I honestly don't care.