My buddies and I recently caught Bill Burr’s latest comedy tour at Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut.

 To get there, I jumped on a 7 am Sunday flight from Palm Beach International up to Boston’s Logan, then taking a 45-minute ride into Rhode Island and Connecticut to experience my favorite comedian.

 A lot of work, I know. But worth it.

 I could have held out and seen him locally at the Hard Rock in Fort Lauderdale the following weekend with Mrs. Shepherd.

 It was more about the Boys and Bill, an experience made perfect with fourth-row, center seats—just outside of Bill’s “who the fuck are you” tongue-lashing reach.

I was primed and ready.

Jackass buddies. Check.

Blood chemistry at maximum “ha, ha” levels. Check. 

 No wife. Check.

 Bill Burr. Check.

 Shits and giggles, Lift off !

I was excited to listen to Bill’s insights on the male/female dynamic and divide without my significant other present and judging. Just taking it in, without adjacent concern or consequence.

 I must admit, whenever Burr laid out a juicy observation on women, I enjoyed looking over at guys attending with their dates. You could practically hear the gals’ heads turn sideways on cue, giving their man a Jada Pickett-to-Will Smith, Academy Award-winning stink eye.

All made delightedly worse, by a room of unaccompanied, free-range men pissing themselves in laughter and slapping their legs.

Priceless.

Make no mistake, my love of Bill’s comedy is not some furtive pleasure.

“Yes, Dear. Bill is laying on heavy the angry, middle age, hard-to-like white guy, speaking truth to a Woke, Millennial, Barbie Boss Power.” 

Mrs. Shepherd is a seasoned, adjacent friend of Bill Burr. She gets that we all disappoint Bill: women and men, old and new religions, Deplorable and Unbearable. We are all found wanting.

Gentlemen, Mrs. Shepherd is a keeper. She likes and has an ear for funny. You can do time and enjoy life’s tension with such an open-minded and tested women. 

However, my wife and I had just finished watching “Old Dads”—Bill’s recently released Netflix original—and I must admit that I found her presence a modest barrier to watching it completely and enjoying it.

You see, I was nervous for Bill. Bill was putting it on the line here. He was stepping out of his comfort zone of Stand-Up. Dark, revelatory, and strangely unifying stand-up comedy is not easily reconcilable with romantic comedies.

And one of the problems with Netflix, or any streaming, is that you can push pause and discuss what you are hearing—and not liking.

“Yes, Dear. Bill is laying on heavy the angry, middle age, hard-to-like white guy, speaking truth to a Woke, Millennial, Barbie Boss Power.” 

“Honey, you’ve seen it before. It’s a process. It’s part of the story arc.”

“Honey, it’s going to get nicer. Nuance and Resolution are coming!”

“If you and your kind don’t like it, Reed Hastings at Netflix is not going to give Bill the cash to do another one.”

Spoiler alert: Bill Burr will get the money to do another one.

Is this good enough explanation to want to see his future Netflix special on my own, and with my boys?

By the way, it’s great. Pure genius. Edifying.

My favorite Bill Burr Netflix special is “Paper Tiger”—a landmark event in history of comedy. 

As Chris Rock did with “Bigger and Blacker” at the Apollo, Burr separated himself from the timid pack and showed his standout, stand-up talent. Burr confronted head-on what was dividing us and feeding our sexual and social disfunction. It was brave, true, and needed—and it catapulted him to deserved stardom. 

I was worried that, like Chris Rock, Burr would start acting differently with his new corporate success, and that his work would suffer. Fortunately, no. Good for you, Bill. Sorry, Chris.  

Burr is taking his art deeper, making it more relatable and conciliatory, and bringing more reason, more laughter, and more happiness to our shared madhouses.

Burr is keeping his eye trained on the big things of concern and addressing them with comedic courage. Men and women, family, politics, and religion—old and new—remain staples of his comedic examination. You know, the important stuff of life that ruins Thanksgiving dinners and divides families.

Not to worry, Burr still sees the world as a mess. Humanity at scale, and interpersonally, just can’t help but piss him off.

What’s most refreshing is that Bill does not exclude himself from humanity’s absurdity. He has a self-knowledge that David Chappell and Bill Maher— similarly inspired and needed comedians—lack. 

In the mind of Bill Burr, we are all more than slightly cracked in the head, and we will remain so. Humanity’s downsides are a chronic disease without a cure. But the good news is that this chronic condition can be managed with prescriptive comedy.

Bill may have given up booze, but he didn’t quit his anger. And he shouldn’t. Burr’s anger is his creative muse. It made him rich, and I’m happy to report that he is not letting it go. 

That said, with each passing public expression, Burr is taking his art deeper, making it more relatable and conciliatory, and bringing more reason, more laughter, and more happiness to our shared madhouses.

I think success, marriage, and particularly children are changing Burr for the better.

On the success front: he knows that he has struck a Deplorable vein, and with it tapped into money, and he is NOT completely comfortable with it. So he takes advantage of it.

Marriage and family—and particularly his commitment to be a better husband and father— is pushing his evolution as comedian.

Deplorables in the room—who are legion— know that they are NOT of the same mind as Burr on religion, abortion, science and Donald Trump. They get it, respect him for it, and they have a good laugh with him and at their own expense.

Burr is also creating a safe space for genuine liberals – folks who find wokeness scary but remain Bill Mahr liberals, and who are not comfortable with socially miscegenating with the Deplorables. A Bill Burr show is a safe place for them.

 Bill has built an audience and is expanding it on his own terms. 

Marriage and family—and particularly his commitment to be a better husband and father— is pushing his evolution as comedian. Only through giving a damn and putting in the hard work does such comedic genius come. 

 Bill is very clear in his act that does not want to recreate the “we didn’t start the fire” familial dysfunction that gave birth to him and his angry muse. 

 On the relationship and parenting home front, he is working on himself for the sake of doing better. And with every passing special, he is showing and sharing the fruits of his handwork.

 Guys love Bill because he articulates, with every punch line, what we think better than we can do ourselves. 

That said, he is no woman-hater. He clearly loves and respects his wife. And he adores his kids. Being a good “Dada” is one of his life’s greatest challenges and his most important work.

Burr is no misogynist; he is a misanthrope! We all disappoint him, wife and kids included. 

 But on the home front, he seems to be doing the hard work to make his peace and bring happiness into his home. 

 Bill Burr is becoming a relationship guru for the Mad as Hell and Looking for Better.

 He is standing up a genre of comedy that is angry, but not toxic.

 And increasingly, he is trying to laugh his way to a better path for him and for us. A more comedic game of life, with less anger and more laughs and happiness.

Go see him, or else tune in when the special comes around. He’s worth it. 

Best,

Guy

[email protected]