From: Silver Screen
Bill Burr is at his best in "Walk Your Way Out"
Bill Burr in his latest special, "Walk Your Way Out."
Bill Burr has become a sort of icon in the comedic landscape of the 21st century. His humor is not exactly prototypical when compared to some other household names of today, such as Louis C.K. and Sarah Silverman. All three find common ground in an ability to use vulgarity as a mechanism to further a joke, not dilute it. That is where Bill Burr begins to diverge, however, and with his new Netflix special “Walk Your Way Out,” he displays his variance from the average.
Despite a rather outrageous presidential election, Burr decided to tape his fourth Netflix special prior to election night. He still capitalizes on the election and opens up the show with some fun jabs for both sides of the political spectrum but never lets the election overshadow his own routine. All things considered, that is the best approach he could have taken for the success of this particular special. His most memorable bits arise from a sense of the absurd and taking the craziness of society and flipping it into a joke.
Burr has a knack to make the extreme seem ordinary and “Walk Your Way Out” is no exception. He throws out ludicrous ideas and jokes that sometimes, to his dismay, cause the audience to pull back -- but, in typical Burr style, he always reels in the joke to a finish that is as equally satisfying as it is crazy. One example from this particular set is a comparison of Adolf Hitler to Michael Jordan, a random analogy that seems odd and out of place, but eventually winds its way to a comedic end point.
There is no common through line in this special, which resembles his previous specials. Burr opts for an honest set that has no superior meaning other than to bring people some laughter, and that ideology is admirably fun. Burr practices what he preaches in the prospect that anything is fair game but never really ‘crosses the line’ as so many comedians tend to do nowadays.
His overall presentation and sequence of jokes are seemingly scatterbrained and have limited connection but part of the outrageous talent and skill that Burr possesses is an ability to make his hour long specials flow effortlessly. Many of the best comedians, even Louis C.K., have a hard time stitching together their extraneous jokes. Burr does not separate himself with vulgarity, originality or other avenues. He instead utilizes his ability to tell cohesive narratives to string together bits that seem completely unrelated.
There is no substitute for a good storyteller and Bill Burr manages to be just that. His presence in the comedy scene is a gift of lunacy that should be cherished. Most importantly, Burr stays true to his own style and revered crazy scientist methodology in “Walk Your Way Out,” making it as much of a hit as his other Netflix specials.
Grade: A-
Walk Your Way Out is now available to stream on Netflix.
