YIKES! I’ve never seen a Leslie Jones comedy routine so I came with an open mind. Stand ups? I have always been a fan. My uncles and Dad aren’t reading these blogs so I admit to jamming TF outta Richard Pryor and Rudy Ray Moore records when alone at Grandma’s house. Look, my Daddy was always in my life so I wasn’t ever trying to repeat the routines or even act like I knew what certain words were. I listened. I laughed to stuff I didn’t understand. I rolled to stuff everything I overstood. When alone, nobody watching me, I did it all over again. Over the years, I understood more and more as I aged, gained experience, blah blah blah.
This is EXACTLY what I felt watching Leslie Jones’ Time Machine. 😂🤣😂🤣 Her language, delivery and material are sooooo freaking brand new that I consumed her special like I was a kid jamming those classics. What do I mean by brand new? First, she skips all the Flavor Flav hype that has become traditional in comedy specials. She doesn’t open giving big props to the city and it’s beautiful what nots. She doesn’t open giving super love and rounds of applause to residents and the audience either. Noooope, Leslie Jones kicks in the 2020 Doors of Comedy being outrageously authentic. Y’all, I sincerely appreciated it. Her theme is obvious but her takes somehow hit my wife (a woman 😁) and me. That’s another example of brand new. Her views, perspectives and explanations were consistent with her time machine theme. We weren’t blasted with politics, sexism, world issues or racism. Just pure fun.
Like I said, this was my first Leslie Jones comedy special. Y’all, I was shocked at the sheer physicality of her comedy sets. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾💪🏾 She is pacing the stage. She is performing dance routines. She breaks out all kinds of stomps, skips and skits throughout the entire set. Matter fact, my wife and I were so impressed that her physical action was a major part of our usual couple’s, “did-you-like-it” debriefing. Don’t look at me like that! Every couple debriefs after watching stuff together. 😋 Even as I blog, I keep seeing her performances and marveling at her skills to dance, jump, run, everything. Especially since she’s 51! If you’re an old school fan of BET’s Comic View, you may remember Arnez J. This is what I mean by the sheer physicality of her comedy sets! She is straight performing her ass off.
In 2019, comedians were serious about “teaching spectators, viewers and audiences in general about the pitfalls of taking their words too serious”. If you missed ALL those real talks at the end or beginning of stand-ups, LUCKY YOU! Yooooo, I don’t take much serious at all so I didn’t need it but geeeeez… That point was overdone last year. It was great that Leslie Jones skipped that mess. Her unapologetic approach was refreshing just like old Pryor and Moore albums.
Her theme, Time Machine, is pretty stinking obvious because it’s the title. Her message can be lost in her over-the-top delivery and excessive screaming. Like I said, she reminds me of my uncle’s Richard Pryor and Rudy Ray Moore albums. Her message is similarly dispersed, drenched in abusive language yet blinding with authenticity and individuality. She blends growing up, HER way, with nothing, instead choosing to weave her trials, tribulations and lessons as cautionary tales of exerburance. The fact she does all this, themed in time machines, choked with personal stories and doesn’t spend time addressing rumors is a godsend. I feared she may dig into that stuff but NOPE. None of that sentimental, sappy stuff either. She was PERFECT for January 2020, strong AF in her femininity and aggressively defensive of womanhood.
