A night (on stage) with Bill Burr

 by Mel Flores
 published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Comedians often point out what we fail to see — the mundane absurdities of life, the fact that even one person supporting President Bush is one too many, and how the elderly are always funny. Comedian Bill Burr entertains in a similar fashion.

Burr sets the tone early at his show on Feb. 21 at the Tempe Improv with a joke about how he's really into hiking. He follows this with a question about where a good place to hike would be, only to have some slack-jawed yokel yell out, "Camelback!"

His response is hilarious: "I'm your typical white boy. I can't just see an animal and leave it alone. I've got to fuck with it, get it all riled up."

Burr's control of the stage is top class. His jokes flow seamlessly and he never struggles to find witty and apt rebuttals to heckles. At one point, a woman near the front yells out words of encouragement, which Burr is thankful for.

However, she quickly fires off an "It's my birthday," trying to shift the focus to her. This perfectly segues into Burr's next joke about his nagging, attention-whore of a girlfriend and her constant attempts to ruin his television-watching experience.

The top joke of the night comes when Burr discusses his recent thought of acquiring a pet dog. What started off as an innocent idea turned into an argument with his girlfriend. She wanted to save one from the pound, but Burr wanted a "2008 pitt bull," and not a "1995 terrier with half his ear chewed off."

This leads to the best quote of the night. On his stance on neutering: "I'm pro dog balls. That's my thing."

Burr has been performing comedy since 1995, and can be seen on the "Chappelle's Show" Season 2 DVD. He's the white dude with red hair. He also has a comedy CD titled "Emotionally Unavailable," which can be purchased through his Web site, billbur.com.

— mel.flores@asu.edu