Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter have established themselves as comedy gods among fans of cult hit “Wet Hot American Summer” and TV shows such as “Stella” and “The State.”
The duo now stars in their own show, “Michael and Michael Have Issues,” on Comedy Central. The Michaels showed off their stand-up chops at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue on Wednesday night.
To kick off the evening, Black greeted the audience with a venue-appropriate “Shalom” before introducing the opening act, Kumail Nanjiani. In addition to his stand-up work, Nanjiani is a co-star and writer on “Michael and Michael Have Issues.”
The set was hilarious, considering the dubious nature of comedy openers. While an opener for a band can be bad without being embarrassing, a bad comic can dampen the atmosphere. In his refined act, Nanjiani discussed the terrifyingly old roller coaster on Coney Island, how lame it would be if the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios went OK and the Midwest drug craze called “Cheese” (it’s Tylenol PM and heroin).
The packed synagogue loved Nanjiani, but went crazy when the Michaels were introduced. Appearing on stage at the same time, Black and Showalter displayed how in synch they are with each other. It is hard to tell if they are performing a written bit or if they are talking to each other off the cuff.
The two started off by talking about their tour and how the GPS in their car seems to transform from a cheerful helper in the day to a possessed machine at night. They described it as turning into Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs,” which resulted in their purchasing a basket to store the lotion to make it happy. After discussing the past stops on the tour (Detroit: “Wonderful people, horrible place”), the act shifted back and forth between the two personalities.
Black dominated earlier on in the show, as he ranted hilariously about his children’s Halloween costumes and their unoriginal choices of pirate and princess garb. Another year, he had been even more upset when his son announced himself as Frankenstein, despite being dressed as the creature Dr. Frankenstein had created. His daughter further failed him when she dressed as a mermaid. She had the fish tail but was wearing a bathing suit top. Despite Black’s request that his daughter lose the top for authenticity, she went out as an inaccurate mermaid.
“There is no TJ Maxx underwater,” Black griped. He compromised with his wife so his daughter could wear the top so long as he was permitted to follow her, telling every person giving out treats, “This costume’s bullshit.”
Whereas Black played up his persona of the slightly pompous fame whore, Showalter talked about his one true love — his cats. After mourning the loss of his cat, Showalter recounted a harrowing story about trying to adopt cats from a pet store chain. His story progressed from the madness of the interview process for prospective pet parents to typical Showalter craziness, where his interviewer became a walrus dressed as an admiral (if you have to ask, maybe Michael and Michael are not for you).
Interspersed between the Michaels were clips from a local morning talk show that the two were forced to be on to promote the tour. To make the best of a bad situation, Black and Showalter were obnoxiously chipper, knowing they could use the footage in their set. These were the highlight of the night. Smiling like mad through their interview, the Michaels were hilariously happy to be on live TV at the crack of dawn. There was a clip of the pair joining a cooking segment where Showalter stared awkwardly at the camera in the background. In another, they had managed to get into the weather report. For some reason, the good people on Fox’s “Morning Beat” neither minded nor understood that they were part of the joke.
The two ended the evening by showing off an improv game created by Showalter, where he would play music and then act out a monologue that would work with it. Showalter began as an angsty teenager telling off his dad, talking about how he wants to take his photos and get in his truck and drive. On its own, this was funny, but the punch line came when Black did basically the same monologue with only minor changes. They went back and forth doing the same monologue with increasingly miniscule changes, thus ending the show with the audience howling with laughter.
Black and Showalter displayed the controlled chaos that can result only from years of work with each other. No one but these two can find the humor in ugly holiday sweaters and Ambien with Cool Whip. Their brand of crazy-yet-restrained humor may not be for everyone, but if you accept the madness, it makes for a great time.
You can reach this staff writer at slindauer@theeagleonline.com.
