Jasper Redd: Jazz Talk

First time I watched a stand-up comedy from Jasper Redd. It has been entertaining but compared to other stand-up comedians I saw lately it felt a bit short. There is no doubt he has a good vocabulary, much better than other comedians but that doesn't mean he's funnier. I like more mimicing comedians, and Jasper Redd just doen't have that. He's pretty static on scene, well dressed like he's going to a wedding and not really to a comedy show. His jokes and puns are good but not hilarious. Overall it's worth a watch but he's not one of my favorites.

Unique speech pattern, unique material, great show! Starts out with a handful of jokes about fast food, but they're told in such a serious, sly, tongue-in-cheek way that you cannot help busting a gut. He covers sex, religion, race, terminology, currency, but it all feels so fresh because his Southern accent and cool demeanor makes it a perspective that we find we have a void of. It's real in a way that a lot of English, South African, and Irish comedians just can't be. It feels potent and light at the same time! And then there's the jazz accompaniment! What a lovely comedy concert! I'm ready for more! It's in between pot humor, civil rights speaker. He's like a calm, mellow Richard Pryor, a smoother Louis CK, and he carries himself more proudly than Anthony Jeselnik. Winning combo!

This was a tight 30 minutes stretched out to an hour. Half of the jokes are brilliant well-written observations. Half of the jokes are no more original than things you and friends might say while hanging out. He starts and ends with weak jokes but there's really funny stuff in the middle with long stretches of silence. Oddly, the audience groans at many of his jokes which led me to believe that Redd was unable to fill a theater of fans and people were pulled off the street. There are frequent cuts to audience members which are annoying because a) it's so dark that you can barely see them and b) they're not really laughing so much that a shot of them was needed. He also laughs at a lot of his own jokes which is charming once in a while but not every few minutes. The jazz motif is an odd choice as Redd seems to have no real connection to jazz. This looked like he was trying to emulate young Cosby. Seinfeld and Chappelle influences are also glaringly obvious. His delivery is so laid-back it appeared that he didn't care if his special went well or not. The only thing really original about him is his off-beat delivery. He's a good comic but if he tightens his pacing and broadens his subject matter, he could be great.