Review: David Cross at The Pageant

By Danya Artimisi

Racism, Trump, sexism, being raped (by the Virgin Mary, nonetheless), Terrorists, Republicans, Nazis, Democrats, 9-11, Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Atheism, Dwarfism, Immigration, and Millenials are just a handful of mentions that garnered a constant stream of laughs and applause from beginning to end.  If David Cross is anything, he is consistent.

Sunday night, he appeared before a nearly sold out crowd at The Pageant.  Show goers were treated to a full, seamless set that lasted an hour and a half, followed by a ten minute encore involving his full disclosure of how he reacted to what he believed was a naked home intruder, resulting in the origin of how “Oh Come On” came about.  

The crowd was warmed up with Superchunk’s “Time To Be Alive” immediately before Cross took the stage.  He opened the show with what seemed to be an impromptu, casual nod to his last appearance in St. Louis in 2001 when he was invited to perform at Saint Louis University’s Welcome Week.  This ended up being much to the chagrin of the Jesuit institution’s leaders and event organizers. Cross read aloud a letter to the editor, followed by a response on behalf of the Student Activities Board found here: https://unewsonline.com/2001/08/30/welcomebackcomediandavidcrossdrawscriticism/ and of course he made it a point to mention the incorrect use of the word “candor”.  He seemingly and proudly wore the mass exodus of Catholics from the 2001 show as a badge of honor and wrapped up his introduction with an assurance that this was not even part of the act and he was merely just saying, “Hi!”.  

Onto the material.  Cross became a father about a year and a half ago.  Despite insisting that his material would not mainly consist of dad jokes, most of the bits involved anecdotal stories about his wife, Amber Tamblyn, and his daughter, Marlow, to which the crowd loved and more than likely found relative.  Most memorably for myself was his intricately detailed illustration of a couple’s colonic which he was eventually talked into by his wife after rejecting the idea for years. The bit had the crowd screaming.

When Cross ripped violently into a stunning and accurate description of Trump and the massive dump that he’s taking on all of humanity,  I was certain that this was the grand finale. The resounding delivery of #TrumpRegrets and the list of crimes committed by him, along with the elucidation of said crimes, was so great in number that Cross proceeded to speed-read them off of a 3-page hard copy.

The comedian wrapped the show with a bit he claims got him a friendly visit from the Secret Service to assess his threat value.  He then shares his fantasy – with exuberant physical demonstration – where Ron Perlman beats the living shit out of Trump on the debate floor.

David Cross’ show gets an A+.