Rating B+
Among mainstream artists available for viewing on Netflix, comedian Hannibal Buress stands alone.
Buress, well known for his roles in “Broad City” and “The Eric Andre Show,” has succeeded in bringing his easygoing, unperturbed persona to stand-up comedy venues across the country.
Netflix documented one of Buress’ recent routines in Minneapolis, offering his quips to a massive audience with the Netflix original comedy special titled “Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado.”
“Camisado” is a fitting way to describe Buress’ humor. Buress often gives seemingly irrelevant backstory to many of his jokes before firing off his staggering, jocular remarks in devout repetition. By prefacing with quirky stories and hilarious anecdotes, Buress casually slides into his punchlines, leaving his audience in shock. Buress’ routine for the Netflix special featured a wide range of topics from his family and personal life to professional sports, with a handful of jests in between.
In the special, Buress talks about his internal struggle for wanting to have children, noting that he is not yet ready for the commitment of carrying around a sleepy child that is perfectly capable of walking on its own. He also discusses his unique relationship with his nieces and nephews, saying that his sister always makes it a grand ordeal when he comes to visit. Buress brings them lavish gifts when he arrives, joking of how much he hates hearing their boring stories about school.
Buress also went through a long bit about his discontent with the game of baseball, particularly how boring the sport is for him. He began by saying that “one of the greatest achievements in baseball is the no-hitter, when nothing happens.” He also touched upon how the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball (MLB) has brought millions of fathers and sons together, saying that the game should be supportive of these drugs because of it. Families are able to bond over the game and bring up those “remember that time” stories about their afternoons at the ballpark. “If you’re against steroids, you’re against family,” he remarked, adding that this family bond couldn’t have been created if MLB athletes were on PCP, because no child has ever said to their father, “Hey dad, remember when that naked man wouldn’t stop punching us?”
On the topic of sports, Buress ventured to the perplexing names of many NBA teams. The Utah Jazz was formerly the New Orleans Jazz, but Buress found that it was unfitting for the franchise to keep this name when they changed cities, because “it’s actually a misdemeanor to own a saxophone in Utah.”
While discussing his career as a comedian, Buress’ described the difficulties of booking shows without having a printer, scoffing at Kevin Hart for stealing his gigs because he doesn’t have to drive to Kinkos to print out contracts. He ended the bit by saying the only difference between him and Hart is that Hart has his own home printer.
Overall, Buress’ routine was comical and refreshing. His routine covered an array of seemingly unrelated topics in just an hour’s time, with a plethora of vulgar, hard-hitting climaxes that left his audience laughing for the entirety of the special.
Other stand-up routines by Buress are available on Netflix as well, including his “Animal Furnace” special released in 2012.
