How harmless, how affable, how—dare we say it?—sweet he looks. Then his mouth opens and words come out—words about handicapped people, abortion, slavery, the impoverished, pedophilia, the death penalty and 9/11. All of them deployed as punch lines.
Here’s the kicker: The words are funny, even while the subject matter would suggest otherwise. Such is the frequently incendiary stand-up style of Daniel Tosh, the controversy-courting comic and star of Comedy Central’s Tosh.0. Critical consensus on Tosh is pretty consistent, describing his act as “contentious,” “deliberately offensive” and “envelope-pushing” and his material as “black comedy.”
Yet as Tosh told an interviewer about his nonpolitically correct humor: “I’m not a misogynistic and racist person … but I do find these jokes funny, so I say them.” When doing so landed him in the critics’ crosshairs, colleagues including Chris Rock, Dane Cook, Jim Norton, Patton Oswalt and Gilbert Gottfried defended Tosh. Warm and fuzzy, he’s not, but Tosh’s comedy, delivered sarcastically and sardonically, has an effect that is cathartic. Yes, you’ll laugh, but you’ll also feel like walls are being torn down, one of the noblest aims of stand-up. Offensive? Pish Tosh.
The Mirage, 10 p.m. Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, starting at $59.99 plus tax and fee, 16+. 702.792.7777
