“Once you become really interested in history you are on the 1 yard line of becoming a Republican,” Gillis proclaimed at this show. Having recently talked with Louis CK for over six hours about all of the past Presidents of the United States*, I suppose Gillis can see the end zone.

 If an interest in history makes you a right winger, Gillis might as well admit it since his best material of this show was his 10 minutes on visiting Mount Vernon, the historic home of George Washington. Playing with physical comedy involving his offensive lineman frame and his self-described appearance as someone who “barely dodged down’s syndrome”, Gillis navigates history, slavery, white guilt, American pride, and the awkwardness of a pandemic-era solo tour with a Martha Washington who refused to break character. We’re truly living in the golden age of comedy when 10 minutes on Mount Vernon destroys.

 At one point during the show Gillis stated “I am not a Republican” and an audience member shouted out “yeah, right.” This kind of epitomizes Gillis and his relationship with the audience. Or, even better put by Louis CK, Gillis is a “red state comic performing for blue state audiences.” 

And they freaking love him.

Red state or blue state, Gillis is a breath of fresh air because he eschews politically correct nomenclature and stances with such relaxed freedom, it feels like he was cryogenically frozen in 2005. He freely uses words that were “banned” from appropriate conversation decades ago and while he doesn’t explicitly come out as pro-life, his ten minutes on how much he loves people with down’s syndrome make it clear where he stands on the issue.

Other topics he covered include the fact that America is superior to other countries, the Australian accent, hating Marines because his girlfriend’s ex- boyfriend is a Marine, white people losing any ounce of cool after Jackie Robinson came on the scene, and, of course, his pitch perfect Trump impression. It was a fantastic set the audience ate right up. 

I have to admit that I was surprised by Gillis’s enthusiastic crowd. You know me. I am a standup comedy fan and I found Gillis the way I find tons of comics- his self-released YouTube special. I have been to tons of live shows of comics I found out about through YouTube and none of them sold out a weekend like this.

The Chicago improv, a venue where the handful of times I have been they have had to close off whole sections of the room to make it look like they didn’t exist so the emptiness was less depressing, was packed, energetic, and excited for comedy in a way an audience only is when they eagerly purchased tickets months in advance to specifically come see this comic. When Gillis walked on stage, the audience roared. The laughter was consistent and loud throughout the entire set. This was their boy.

But maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. Since getting fired from SNL, a fact that seems almost banal to admit about Gillis at this point, he has been a busy boy. Beyond touring a ton and doing loads of live comedy, Gillis’s podcast is the #3 most popular podcast on patreon, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, he has his own sketch comedy show, Gilly and Keeves, on YouTube, and he’s a regular on the podcast circuit with Joe Rogan and others. 

If you ask me, SNL dropping him was the best thing to ever happen to Gillis. He has the freedom to do what he wants and he doesn’t have to worry about cancel culture because he has already been cancelled. We are the beneficiaries. Audiences love Gillis’s uncensored woke free comedy. Back to this show, Gillis sold out this weekend so hard that he had to add a last-minute late show on Thursday night, a night when it is notoriously difficult to sell out even the early show, a sure-fire sign that he will never perform in clubs again because his popularity will land him in theaters for all future tours. 

Gillis is still touring this year and you should seize the opportunity to see him in a comedy club while you still can. 

Delights:

● Gillis came on stage with two bud lights

● The fans next to me drove 2 1/2 hours from Iowa to attend this show and one of them broke the ice with me by asking if I was on a first date (with my husband of five years.) He then showed me his shirt, which was featured in a comedy sketch Gillis made and was devastated when I didn’t understand the reference. He took that shirt off when Gillis came on stage and waved it around, hoping he would comment on it. I am about 70% sure he drove home over the legal limit.

*These presidents podcasts are Louis CK’s first podcast appearance since his me too and they are as fantastic as you would think. It’s just mostly Louie and Shane (and some Matt) telling stories about all of our past presidents and making jokes. There is little discussion of policy.