"All feminists are full of shit." Bill Burr says barely half way into his set. A few moments later he laughs, "By the way this is going to be my last show ever after this comes out." It makes the crowd laugh too, because they, along with so many comedy purists, are in for the ride. Such a phrase, "all feminist are full of shit," should be a statement that floors an audience and brings a bombardment of boo's to the deliverer under most normal circumstances, but here at the Royal Albert Hall where Burr has shot his special, the majority of the packed out crowd seems to instinctively laugh at his blunt phrasing. Why? Because they know the comedian is getting to something. He has a bigger picture that he needs to paint to shed light on the supposedly "sensitive" topics that have become hot button issues with society and has helped contribute to the dreaded Hollywood cancel culture. Burr has more to say than just on the surface, which is where most people are triggered and react emotionally. It's something that has forced numerous comedians and public figures to walk on egg shells, in fear that society might turn on them, possibly ruining their career. This, as you can imagine, kills the blood flow for almost any creative or artistic expression an entertainer might want to put forth but, like Dave Chapelle, with his equally powerful new Netflix special Sticks & Stones, Burr is willing to step up and shed light on the cheap hysteria that still plagues our culture and, much like with Chapelle's crowd, it is incredibly refreshing to see such a massive audience applaud and laugh at what would normally shock and offend. This gets demonstrated again in the set, in the middle of a #metoo type critique. Burr is talking about how phrases get picked up and championed by certain groups to levels that go too far. Things like #believeallwomen. Isn't this a little too far, Burr seems to ask. Are we supposed to just believe all women? "What about <the one's that set your car on fire for not answering a text?"> he asks. Then, he goes after how this type of thinking has bred strange anomalies like the male feminist. "Where the fuck did that come from?" Burr fumes, reminding sad, sex deprived men everywhere that they will never be able to relate to women so much that they could actually believe their own actions and words, no more than Burr can stand before them pretending to be a Black Panther. "I'm a Black Panther!" he yells, "Black power!" The crowd roars back. He then digs deeper going as far as to say such tactics remind him of when he was younger, just trying to do anything he could to get laid. Being as agreeable to any women as he could just to get lucky. "Just agree with her and maybe she'll touch it," Burr says in a goofy teenager voice, then, as a teen girl, "what were your favorite bits <from the comedy show>?" And again, as the young, horny boy, "I LIKE WHATEVER YOU LIKE! WILL YOU TOUCH IT NOW? DID I DO IT RIGHT?!" In the middle of a point about sexual misconduct and #metoo rebuttals, the comedian flatly asks, "Do you know what's hilarious about sexual assault?" Immediate laughs from most of the crowd. Again, this shows the intelligence of Burr's fanbase. They know he isn't talking about what is hilarious about sexual assault itself. Everyone knows that sexual assault is terrible, save for the minatory heinous enough to commit it. He is driving at what it is about society that has drastically changed the conversation around the topic and his crowds understand this instinctively. Not everyone gets it though, as is shown when a heckler in the crowd demands Burr "ask consent" before having sex with a woman. Burr takes the fuel and uses it to deliver another potent point in the moment. Whether it's about getting therapy, feuds with his wife, his love for Elvis, or giving up his murderous dog, Burr has a lot to put out there. In the last few years, he's put out some of the best specials in the business and the crowds continue to ask for more. Its guys like him that are keeping the art where it needs to be. Honest and in your face. Check out Paper Tiger, now available on Netflix.
