Chris Rock returns to the stage a legitimate superstar, and for his venue he's chosen none other than Harlem's Apollo Theater. Everything is bigger and more elaborate this time around: the building, the set, the outfit, and the outrage. But it rarely translates to more laughs. It also doesn't help, looking back a few years later, how archaic a lot of the attitudes expressed by Rock are. His views on parenting and relationships are so outdated (and, it should be noted, were outdated at the time) that it sounds like you're listening to your dad cracking wise. This is only furthered when he begins to weigh in on the Bill Clinton impeachment, which he lays right on Hilary Clinton's doorstep. Rock has always had a way of keeping the ladies onside while making some really questionable observations about them, but I wonder if this particular set tested that infatuation. It sure doesn't help that he again spends the last act of this special criticizing women and being generally negative towards them. Sadly, when he does say something positive, like showing his opposition to homophobia, he uses it more as a transition and never takes the time to sell the idea to the audience, which would have been a brave thing to do in that time and place. It certainly would have set this apart from the other comics who predominantly use their charisma to sell a joke. Still, he does have a unique take on gun control that comes at the issue from a different direction and his prediction of how the A.I.D.S epidemic would develop is almost prophetic. It speaks to what the potential was for this set, and is every time out for Rock. A step down from a legendary feature debut.
Review of Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker
