That Damn Michael Che

Michael Che does a half hour comedy show dealing with real world issues and with his style of sardonic humor to outlandish levels.

I know Michael Che only from SNL. I don't watch his standup. Still, I get his sense of humor and this show is all him. At least, it has his brand of comedy. I don't know how much of his life he's using. It is serious with the material but he spins it with wild humor. It lasted two seasons of only six episodes each. The obvious comparison is Atlanta or Chapelle. This is not quite up to that level. It is not as artistic as Atlanta or as hilarious as Chapelle. It is still very good.

Yet the show is consistently 80% awful, juvenile and often downright lame. It confuses me why there is such great talent and great writers - this show and 'I Think You Should Leave' are the 2 best examples of how great ideas, great writing and great execution make for a great show. I worried that this might not be consistent, onlyb ecause I was howling laughing through the first episode but it really maintains the great writing - and it's so great seeing the comedians featured.

I rarely watch SNL so I didn't really know Michael Che well. I saw him with Seth Meyers on his show and I was convinced to check out this series. Glad I did.

I like that each episode has a recurring theme that they play around with like jazz improvisation. I'm on episode 3 as I write this and I've already laughed out loud (Yes, you can actually write that all the way out) several times. What would be mind-bogglingly absurd for most people (Whites, and anyone living where I do in Europe) is somehow routine for American Blacks-like taking the train to the hospital after a gunshot wound because the ambulance is too expensive.

"Know what I'm saying?" It's more like a comma. Now I know.

Genuinely good sketch comedy shows are very very rare and trying to compare every one of them to Chappelle's Show is just an impossible bar to set. That being said, even Chappelle's Show had a few bits that didn't land either, it's just that it had more hits than misses and the high points were some all time greats.

So no, That Damn Michael Che isn't the next Chappelle's Show, but it's better than any other sketch comedy show I've seen since. It often feels like they forgot how to make a good sketch comedy seen since it and Little Britain finished back in the mid-2000s. This is the first sketch comedy series I've found since that gave me some regular moments where I would crack up laughing at some of the bits. I also like the way that some of the bits continue through the entire episode.

Well done Michael Che, I hope there are a few more series left in the tank.

Hilarious show, check it out.

Michael Che is super funny.