In Oh Come On, David Cross matches vulgarity with vulgarity but it’s not the only way to mock a political horror show
I’m watching David Cross, but I can’t help thinking about Brett Kavanaugh. No insult intended to Cross, but the hearings were unfolding as he performed this London gig. And of course, the Arrested Development man has skin in the game. His comedy usually includes a strand of political commentary; his wife Amber Tamblyn is a co-founder of the Time’s Up movement. And right now, one year after the dawn of #MeToo, an alleged sexual abuser was about to be nominated to America’s supreme court.
What can comedy do about that? Or at least, what can Cross do? One option is escapism, but that’s not Cross’s bag – this performance, of his touring set Oh Come On, was bound to broach Trump-era politics. And so it came to pass: in the closing 20 minutes he zeroes in on Potus, with a gag-cum-tirade about penitent Trump voters, and an inventory of increasingly baroque scenarios that might lead to the president leaving office. But Cross’s Trump material comes with a caveat. People tell him: “Trump must be great for comedy, right?” But the opposite is true. He’s hard to joke about. The reality is more absurd than any joke. The president’s outrages come too thick and fast to get purchase on: they’ve been superseded before you make it to the punchline.
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