David Cross: The Pride Is Back

David Cross: The Pride is Back is one of the funniest stand up specials i have ever seen. He is a comic genius. One moment hes talking about the ban on fetal tissue testing, the next James Lipton of tvs "Inside The Actors Studio." He knows very much of what hes talking about. Having been a long time Mr. Show fan, this was a joy to watch. David Cross isn't the kind of comic to stand up and say "Whats the deal with Jesus?" He backs up his topics which leaves you with a smart, funny, fresh thing to watch.

David Cross's long-awaited first stand-up special, done shortly after Mr. Show had finished its run and 3 years before his first comedy album. The set features observations about pop culture and social attitudes. Cross, who does not suffer fools gladly, takes aim at certain attitudes or personalities and unapologetically has at them. Of course, being that this was just before the Bush administration became a staple for him, his harshest criticism is saved for religion. Cross gleefully prods the church throughout his set, joking about being raped by the Virgin Mary or teasing Jesus Christ. The choice of material will most certainly put some off, but Cross has never been about appealing to everyone. Those that like him, however, like him a lot.

This is one of the most sinularly uncompromised performances provided by, in my hugely influential opinion, the finest orator of intellectual signifigance at this present time. And he's really goddamn funny I guess. He wields his matter-of-fact, self-rightous indiscretions like the wisened old scamp that he is. (Or scoundrel if you prefer. He would!) I would much prefer that anyone after having seen his material not make rash judgements about the nature of his lampooning, for there's far more to be gained by allowing yourself to shift your sensibilities slightly. As for anyone who finds it nessasary to censor themselves from reality, you probably wouldent have bothered reading this in the first place.

In this HBO special David Cross is busying lying his way into the affections of his date when a fan approaches and asks him to maybe sign something for her boyfriend, or maybe come over and say hello or, maybe, just pop over and do an hour-long stand-up bit. Keen to have his date see him as generous and thoughtful, Cross goes over but finds himself doing a gig for free.

Due to periods sitting on planes, airports and hotels staring at walls waiting for the next time I have to move this week, I have been able to catch up on some files on my Pod, including some albums and shows from David Cross. I mainly know him from his brilliant turn in Arrested Development so I was curious to see what he was like with his own material. The answer is that he is just as funny, but in a different way. Like most comedians, Cross's humour is very observational in nature but the thing that makes him so good is that he is never "so what's the deal with" or "have you noticed" etc.

Instead he is very sharp, inventive and intelligent. The Pride is Back is not the best example of this (I think "It's Not Funny" or "you F**king Baby" are better) but it is still very funny. He covers topics including foetal tissue research, pornography, airport art and others, all under a sort of constant scepticism of religion, Christianity in particular. What he is very good at is not just using topics for comedy but actually managing to convey an interest and opinion that he is putting forward and then drawing the laughs from that. In a way it is similar to the reason I like Bill Hicks, even though I do not find him hilarious but rather just enjoy the way the discourse is interesting and funny at the same time.

With Cross it works very well and the result is a fresh and funny show. Some of his topics could have been stronger (in particular I thought his attack on James Lipton was too "easy" for him) but it is still very good even if the couple of more recent shows I have heard are a lot stronger due to the base of politics and religion that drives those shows.