Pas une bonne idée

Photo credit: AP Photo/Bill Waugh

Coyle's rundown of Rock's act isn't any different from mine at the turn of 2008, still it's impressive that Rock rocked sixty thou at Bonnaroo (maybe next year) and depressing that he hasn't cut that dumb ass joke at which I took umbrage about Black women being too ball-bustingly aggressive to be first lady. The Tiger Woods reference is new though. Still love Chris.

Chris Rock performs for Bonnaroo masses

By JAKE COYLE

MANCHESTER, Tenn. (AP) — Comedians will often talk about "the room" — how it feels, whether it's good or not, how to work it.

Chris Rock played to a room Friday night that few comedians could command. Rock performed his act in front of tens of thousands on the main stage of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Following him was Metallica, who had the benefit of screeching guitars, a dynamic light show and pyrotechnics.

Rock had only himself and a microphone, but nevertheless appeared to have the festival crowd hanging on his every punch line. Addressing the Bonnaroo crowd, which has traditionally been on the hippy side since it was founded in 2002, Rock mock-chastised them for taking what he called "performance enhancing drugs."

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves for taking an antidepressant to see a comedian," said Rock. "I am an antidepressant!"

For Bonnaroo, Rock didn't do much to tailor his act, which he's lately been touring. He recently took the "No Apologies" tour abroad where he in London set a record for the largest standup performance in the United Kingdom with a crowd of about 14,500.

However many were there for his show Friday it was surely more than the London audience; the festival typically draws nearly 80,000 and the majority of Friday's festival-goers watched Rock perform. Metallica's Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett introduced Rock while many of the other comedians performing at the festival — Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn among them — watched from backstage, naturally curious at how Rock would work the outsized room.

Rock quickly launched into politics and the presidential candidates' false claims of modesty.

"How many Kanye injections must you endure" to decide you should be president, Rock joked, referring to Kanye West, who was to perform late Saturday night at Bonnaroo.

Some of Rock's best material was about the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, who Rock supports. The comedian said he was impressed by Obama's unmistakable blackness, joking that his name makes him sound like "the bass player for the Commodores."

Though Rock thinks America is "ready" for a black president, he doesn't think it's ready for a black First Lady. When the crowd oohed, Rock insisted, "Yeah, I said it. At Bonnaroo I said it." His reason? Rock believes a black woman could never be in the background of a relationship, and that Obama would have been better off marrying a white woman: "Look what it did for Tiger Woods," he said.

One of Rock's best bits came while discussing rising gas prices despite the war in Iraq, which some predicted would help keep oil under control.

"Let me tell you something," said Rock. "If I invade IHOP, pancakes are going to be cheaper in my house."