At BAM, famed comedian David Cross talks Trump, gun violence
A thin-skinned audience would surely take umbrage at the comedy of David Cross. They’d consider his jokes bashing organized religion and his stories about masturbating while fantasizing about the Statue of Liberty (because he loves America so much) offensive. But Brooklynites tend not to be thin-skinned or close-minded; particularly not the ones sitting in a packed house at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), where Cross was performing Friday night. The audience greeted his off-color humor with rollicking laughter.
To a fellow cynic, what’s not funny about a communion wafer made from the Son of God’s genitalia? If you’re wincing at that and you’re not familiar with his work, you should know that the former “Arrested Development” star has built a career out of using cynicism to frame issues that most people had trouble discussing without getting embarrassed, angry or both. From his days working with Bob Odenkirk (of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” fame) on the set of the HBO sketch comedy series “Mr. Show, with Bob and David,” Cross played a number of offbeat characters, including a homophobic rock star who enjoyed shagging his male bandmates and a Georgia-accented redneck who — before drowning on a life raft between his girlfriend and her mother (with whom he’s also having an affair) — daydreams about having sex with a fish.