Lewis Black Has Osage In Tears

Comedian Lewis Black took to the stage Friday night and had the crowd in tears most of the night.  Black, best known for his take on politics and life as he sees it shared his hour and a half set at Osage Million Dollar Elm Event Center and did not disappoint the packed auditorium. 

With material ranging from the places he has been recently to opening for Vince Gill to his generation leaving their mark on society, he mixed hilarious stories with his trademark mental breakdown moments and never missed a beat.  Black even had a showdown with a couple of moths that were buzzing around his head for most of the show.

Lewis manages to stay relevant and current even with a constant touring schedule.  He is one of those rare comics that has a flare to go from the mundane to the issues in the forefront of American culture and back again and never lose his crowd.  He can literally talk about anything and make it funny.

Lewis Black joked about his being Jewish and him playing a casino on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.  That this was the one day that God would forgive all their sins and write their name in the Book of Life.  He went on is his typical rant, "one day, we only get one day to get rid of all this sh*$, don't you think we could stretch this out for a week!"  Then quickly shifted into his attack on different holidays that he takes issue with.  "Valentines Day is a joke.  Why do we have this in February?  I just gave you a bunch of crap 6 weeks ago at Christmas and now you want more crap! This holiday should be moved out of February to a warmer time of year, since parts of the country are so cold you can't feel you ba*&$ anyway.  If you want to have a romantic holiday, those may come in handy!"  His rip on his hatred of Labor day was classic, having been out of school now for years, but still feeling the pressure around Labor day to get his binders and folders and pencils ready to go back to school. 

His story about opening for Vince Gill in St. Louis was another that had us crying with laughter.  "Here is a guy who is good looking, can sing like a bird, and is funny.  I am screwed!"  Then tells of Gill bringing his wife, Amy Grant onstage with an embrace and a kiss and her singing  like an angel.  "Here is all this love, and happiness, and positive attitude that dripped over the crowd like honey.  They sing and and laugh and then float offstage on the wings of angels.  Then, okay here is Lewis Black!"  It was hilarious to see his facial expression and get his take on the direct contrast that this evening was about to take.

Black's political rant was surprisingly short, but to the point and poignant.  He spoke of how each political party has stated that they will be the ones to protect us from terrorism, that they have teams of people who are thinking up every possible scenario and yet, "a bomber boarded a plane on Christmas a couple years back, with a bomb wrapped around his [penis] and was going to blow up Detroit.  There is no way that anyone but a terrorist could have dreamed that one up!"

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle

He closed with talking about how his generation was the greatest ever at hanging out.  That they had managed to do absolutely nothing but cause problems in their time on Earth and needed to find a way to leave a legacy to be spoken of after they were gone.  "We need to legalize pot!"  He went into his story about how in his younger days he partook of the herb and how a friend of his offered it to him and said, "it has gotten better."  Lewis then added, " I took a puff and I lost my feet, I felt like me feet had disappeared."  He went on to add that the economy was nonexistent and there was a need to generate income, legalizing it was a way to pump money into the struggling economy and that it was something that could be made in the USA.

The night overall was one of thought and hilarious stand up that truly must be seen and heard to appreciate.  I am sure I have not done him the justice that he deserves.  Lewis Black, an incredibly funny, everyman that you don't want to miss.