It was a cold night in the Palace Theatre in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as Lewis Black took the stage.
No, you read that correctly.
It was a cold night IN the Palace Theatre.
Meaning, it was so cold inside the theatre that the first three jokes Black made were in reference to the lack of heat in the building.
In fact, the audience stayed clad in their winter parkas and hats, huddled in their seats, to listen to the rants of the award winning comedian, actor and Yale-educated playwright.
But the cold inside and out didn’t keep Black and his fans from warming up the atmosphere of the historic venue.
More rhetoric than raunchy, Lewis Black, who repeatedly admits that he “doesn’t give a F*$@,” brings an intellectual spin to his comedy, which runs the gamut from cerebral to mundane, with a whole lot of profanity along the way.
Black spent the first 15 minutes of his set railing against the lack of mental health care in this country, mixing his jokes and jabs with some rather insightful commentary and background information on the state of the American system.
From there, Black picked up speed and covered ground from vacationing in Tahiti to a rousing segment on Mitch McConnell, to an interestingly empathetic take on women and breast enhancement; each bit not-so-subtly including his personal feelings on the subject, all to the delight of the middle-aged crowd.
But then, as all Lewis Black fans know, he “doesn’t give a F*$@”
As is routine with this tour, Black opened the last segment of his show to a Q & A session with questions taken from audience members’ texts and emails, and proceeded in impromptu diatribes on a variety of subjects ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to his own resemblance to Warren Buffett. (Check out the video to the Louisville segment here.)
Opening for Lewis Black was John Bowman, longtime friend and tour partner, who took to the stage a few minutes after eight and brought with him a slew of locally-referenced jokes, which played well to the chilled audience, warming them up quickly.
It’s fair to assume that most people walked out of Lewis Black, The Rant is Due, Part Deux entertained, yes, but a little more enlightened as well.
Images: E. Carter/Louisville.com
