Bill Burr belongs to a group of stand-up comedians who are considered to be the best around. It’s an exclusive group, including Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Jerry Seinfeld. Burr practices a different kind of observational comedy – his shtick is, “Look at how stupid this person is for doing this!”Burr’s hilarious rants are delivered not from a higher place, where it risks being condescending, but rather from a similar place. Not once does it ever feel like Burr is punching down.
Burr’s performance Walk Your Way Out, which is showing on Netflix, was taped in Nashville, Texas, in October a few weeks before the American Presidential elections. Apart from the political jokes – the one about Donald Trump being a racist led to awkward silence rather than intended laughter – the special will be liked by many of his fans and will find new audiences.
Burr’s flow of humour makes his material funnier than it should be. He puts on the persona of a slightly ignorant, very American middle-aged male, who sees popular culture trends that are not the norm as weird. Burr doesn’t tell jokes like Jimmy Carr or Jay Leno. He rants, but not in the way of radio talk show hosts who come across as more angry and bitter than funny.
Even when Burr is discussing politics, he is not really taking a position or choosing sides. There is an element of honesty that emanates from him, because of which, irrespective of your political leanings, you do not feel alienated.
India finds a mention, too, in Walk Your Way Out, but more as a punch line about Burr’s inadequacies than as a joke about the country. When Burr was in India, he saw a homeless kid take a dump between two cars, and it was so shocking to his senses that when he complains about random things back home in America, it feels silly and inconsiderate.
In a podcast with fellow comedian Joe Rogan for the show The Joe Rogan Experience, Burr talks about choosing to film Walk Your Way Out. He said he wanted to pay homage to older comedy giants, whose specials were considered works of art. While the material is outstanding, the look of the show feels a little off. Burr’s intentions are sincere, but the result is marred by production values that make the show feel like it was shot in the home studio of your second cousin.
My favourite bit is the joke about Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, in which Hitler is described as the Michael Jordan of evil – others may have killed more, as did Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, but Hitler is considered the benchmark of ultimate evil.
Walk Your Way Out is Bill Burr’s fifth stand-up comedy special and arguably his most politically incorrect. It’s refreshing that in a climate of extreme political correctness, where everyone gets offended at the drop of a mic, Burr makes off-colour jokes. The one about “out of shape people” will make a few gasp in horror at the sheer audacity of a comedian to make fun of overweight people.
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