Stand-up comic Lewis Black, for someone whose outward persona is so known for rage and anger that he literally personified that emotion in a Pixar movie, is actually a social being who likes to be around people.
So when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, the New York City resident hunkered down because of his age (71 at the time), staying in his apartment for 12 straight weeks.
“It was 12 weeks of solitary confinement,” he said in a recent interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ahead of his appearance at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre April 9. (Tickets available starting at $20.) “I walked my terrace like I was a prisoner.”
He said he’s still working through the trauma of that time period and uses it as comic material on stage.
He is also shocked that so many people didn’t end up getting vaccinated. “I’m still searching for a positive,” he said. “It never crossed my mind so few people would get it. I’m not recovered from that. It utterly shocked me.”
The entire pandemic gave him PTSD, he said. “In a sane country, both parties would have worked together and said, ‘This is what we have to do.’ This level of division is disgusting. It’s unforgiveable!”
And the pandemic, he said, is clearly why crime has increased. “People are losing their [expletive] minds!” he said. “Kids are having problems. Adults are having problems. I consider myself very lucky. I could deal with it in a sense. I can’t imagine having to deal with children or special needs. And old people are seen as expendable. There’s a cruelty here.”
He finally began hitting the road more aggressively by December. At Cobb, he’ll do an hour show, then 20 minutes of reading other people’s rants as a livestream, which can be seen on his YouTube page or Facebook page.
Black has been doing stand-up comedy for more than 50 years. His first gig was between sets at a music venue in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, when he was a college student. He floundered badly until his dog came on stage and he made a rude joke about the dog’s junk that got a laugh. “I should have been a prop comic,” he said.
He worked in government, wrote plays and did stand-up on the side for a time as a “weird hobby.” He only got serious with standup in the late 1980s in New York City when he began working the comedy clubs and hanging out with peers like Kevin Meaney, Denis Leary and Mario Cantone. He eventually found his voice, a voice that dripped with contempt and exasperation at the world.
This led to his gig on “The Daily Show,” where he made his mark with crazy rants under Craig Kilborn, then Jon Stewart and now Trevor Noah.
“They keep giving me a contract and I keep signing it,” he said. “When Trevor came on, he really liked me. I’m one of the comics he studied.”
His most recent appearance was last month where he mocked the Academy Awards. (This interview by the way, was done in March, before the Oscar brouhaha and before he lost a Grammy to Louis C.K.).
IN CONCERT
Lewis Black: Off the Rails
$20-$54.50
8 p.m. Saturday, April 9
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta
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