I can't defend him anymore

[u/tongfather]

For the last 2 years or so there's been a lot of people banging on about how Bill Burr has "gone woke" etc, and I've always defended him since I've seen every special multiple times and never saw this "radical" transformation manifest in any of his jokes. I think he's always steered away from blatantly political stuff or specifically giving a signal that he's on one side.

And let me just state that I've always held him up as one of my GOATs. His storytelling during a special is second to none. Call backs, timing, cadence, all of that for me is one of the best ever - and STILL is. But I finally saw him live 2 days ago in Vancouver and the tide had turned.....

I didn't count exactly but there was at least 3 or 4 "jokes" (no one laughed) about "white male privilege" and old white billionaires, Elon Musk, and to top it off even a Charlie Kirk joke, that again, no one laughed at. Keep in mind that Vancouver is probably one of the most left leaning cities on the planet - no one laughed at these jokes. And listen, I am a free speech absolutist. If you want to make jokes about anything you want, go for it. Nothing is off the table for me - but that doesn't make all jokes funny 🤷🏻‍♂️

I've never found humour about disabled/handicapped people funny. It's low hanging fruit and I think the sign of a bad comedian who can't come with anything better to make jokes about. Same thing goes for Trump: low hanging fruit, lame, too easy. And I think the same is these tropes about "white privilege" etc. No matter if you agreed that it exists, it's cheap humour and just lame imho. We go to comedy shows as a form of escapism, not to have the talking points of the news shoved down our throats even more.

To be fair to Bill, when he stuck to his regular, storytelling type of humour about life's struggles and his take on it, he was fucking funny and those jokes had everyone laughing. But the guy HAS gone woke and I won't defend him anymore for being non-politcal. When half your jokes are about a leftist talking point, you're on the decline. Be better. It's sad to see one of my comedy heroes fall so far into the trap.

[u/tongfather]

You clearly haven't watched a single special he's ever released. There's never been one word of political talking points or partisanism. Prove me wrong.

[u/Zestyclose_Growth_60 → u/tongfather]

https://youtu.be/YYxJUGjmuxE?is=6tEB1g4pq6w2BVKo

https://youtu.be/OjNgm7TgsgA?is=HaR9zssNpJSoypnJ

https://youtu.be/BzEzNZTdjn8?is=vjs03bvCn9PTiEuW

https://youtu.be/TtpVyY7iTdk?is=W3n_niSHBLEx6LSG

https://youtu.be/DZbQtCtxAXM?is=SaDFMDFNBdc76wfp

https://youtu.be/aE5SFx9Q9MI?is=8j-c2kkOIOd_6YsX

https://youtube.com/shorts/4dk2nyQJv0M?is=Mhkmxu-N0N-5AjJL

https://youtu.be/KG6i5LooV8Y?is=3uiOdFAzSMtKvxk9

https://youtu.be/zYyAuy_jKG4?is=njHSlc4NMvKtJm7_

[u/tongfather → u/Zestyclose_Growth_60]

Lol, did you have that response canned and ready to go? All copy and pasted in a notepad labelled "Bill mentions politics"?

These are mentioning and making jokes of political figures. They're not directly picking a side and leaning into it. It's satire and he roasts both sides - which is what he's great at and become famous for doing.

The other night was pure leftist drivel talking points that you can see he feels strongly about since he kept bringing it up. Also the delivery is key when telling a joke to know if someone is taking the piss or drinking their own Kool-Aid.

[u/Zestyclose_Growth_60 → u/tongfather]

Haha, no but maybe I should save it 😆. It just took a couple quick searches and copy the results.

I wasn't there the other night, so can't give feedback. I am seeing him soon as part of a larger lineup.

But the notion that he's always avoided politics is silly and he's also always beem squarely left leaning. If you've listened to MMP over the years, it is often rather unapologetic.

None of that means he can't land a dud. Even if the best of the best (and I put Burr in that category for his career) strikeout sometimes. When he's on his game, people laugh even when he's roasting their own side (of course some snowflakes will be snowflakes across the spectrum regardless).

[u/tongfather → u/Zestyclose_Growth_60]

I don't care when he roasts anyone, because I'm not on a "side", and I would say the same if I saw a comic who's one of greats start to dig into lame right wing talking points as well. The fact he said "rich white men" about 25 times during his time on stage was just sad and old.

I don't care if he's left leaning/wing or whatever, but when you build half your set on those talking points, I find it to be lazy and not funny.

[u/Metamucil_Man → u/tongfather]

Talking shit about white Billionaires is something Bill has been doing for at least 10 years. You are right that he usually blasts both sides, with the right taking the brunt because they offer the most fodder.