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If only all the cancel-culture, free-speech, devils-advocate contrarian naughty boys of stand-up were more likeBill Burr.
Sometimes he fails, and fails miserably.
The middle section of the special is full of material about his childhood and role as a father.
Red Rocksdoes not attempt to tie those different sides of Burr together into one coherent picture.
He is the angry yelling man.
He is the man who regrets his anger.
He is the man who rants about feminism.
Those jokes are roadblocks.
And then, lest you think hes gone too soft, he pulls out of the nosedive into gentleness.
See, Im offensive!
I live down to your expectations.
Whether or not Burr intends it, there is something self-fulfilling about that lowest-bar expectation-setting.
To a degree, Burr appears to love it, especially when its a trap hes set deliberately.
When female voices in the crowd start to Woo!
a joke that begins by stating that women are more intelligent than men, Burr pauses to scold them.
How do they not realize hes about to make fun of them?
You know Im an asshole!
Are you saying Bullshit, sir, because you dont believe me?
Or cause you dont want me to leave?
Is that what it is, the little angry circle that youre in?
Burr shifts into an exaggerated male voice, pretending to be his audience interlocutor.
Dont be goin and gettin happy, now!
Burr says, in the voice of this fan who loves Bill Burr, the Angriest Comedian.
Dont be goin and gettin soft on me!
Dont start hugging people and loving yourself!
The last moment of audience interaction comes right at the end, as Burr cues up his closing joke.
I have a really weird take on abortion, he begins.
Im 100 percent pro-choice, always have been.
Female voices start cheering, and Burr cuts them off.
Ladies, I said it was weird!
For the love of God, stop getting in the trunk of the car.
Wait until the end!
Youre supposed to vet me first.
Abracadabra, outrage achieved.
Its not hard to see why Burr wouldnt want to give up that element of his persona.
Hes so good at it.
Its what his audience comes for.
He is so adept at playing bothsidesism hot potato, and hes legitimately exciting.
But that much dodging and weaving is exhausting.
It is tiring to watch:Will this jokes punch line be the one that I hate?
In its most intriguing moments, it also looks like a comedian yearning to try something new.
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