Wyatt Cenac’s “Comedy Person”

Daily Show correspondent and writer Wyatt Cenac has performed in and released his debut stand-up special Comedy Person. He wrote for King of the Hill for three seasons, was considered as a cast member for Saturday Night Live in 2008 for a role as Barack Obama and starred in the movie Medicine for Melancholy.

In his presentation in Comedy Person Cenac comes off as a refined and well-polished comedian with precise timing, smooth transitions and over an hour of laugh out loud material.

Fellow Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman performs the first track on the album, attempting to explain that Wyatt has obtained a role in a movie that he absolutely can’t turn down: Beverly Hills Cop 8. Shortly after, Wyatt comes on stage to massive applause and jubilation and launches right into his banter on people without television. (Guess what? They all have laptops). For a man who works in television it certainly becomes difficult when people around him don’t even partake in the medium.

From there he launches into the Internet’s ubiquitous obsession with cat videos. He points out that while President Obama’s ratings fluctuate, cats’ never do. (Republicans take note, this information could be vital in the upcoming election.) Furthermore cats routinely kick the President’s ass in numbers by ridiculous margins. And how much does Wyatt love cat videos? He loves them so much, yet HE HATES CATS!

When talking about a friend’s 30^th birthday party, Wyatt takes some time to rail against Medieval Times. After noting that the location for a 30 year-old’s party should not be the simultaneous location for an 11 year-old’s party, he wonders aloud how Medieval Times will change in the future. All we can say is that it involves Hispanics speaking with British accents.

At different points Cenac expresses his struggle and often times inability to be normal. And of course by normal he means a well-crafted insult maker. He admits that his occasional “Yo Mama” joke would be “not so much a slam as a story of triumph.” He also expressed his struggle to be “black” as a child. Often times being a black sellout was associated with the term “Oreo.” Cenac says, “I don’t think people would be so compelled to be sellouts if it didn’t sound so tasty.” Popular and delicious? Okay by him.

Cenac incorporates racial humor without having to rely on it. He avoids major mention of the fact that he has a career in television—no doubt working at Comedy Central could produce some very good stories. Cenac is a very good, stand-alone comedy person. His light obsession with pop culture, his strong observational humor and his affinity for being nerdy make him highly entertaining and a must listen for even casual comedy fans. Much like a description of a YouTube video in one of his early tracks, he resembles a cat jumping in and out of the box as both member and observer of society’s hilarious misgivings.

Cenac doesn’t have a Twitter account, but you can follow him on Facebook here and don’t forget to check out his awesome album Comedy Person.