Whatever's going on with comedy right now, it's pretty fucking amazing.
Every night around Austin, comedians throw shows that have crazy themes, killer lineups, or even integrate some of the best musical acts in town to cross-promote Austin's iconic live music history with this new layer of nightly entertainment.
I've said it countless times before, but what's happening in town is like the Wild West of Funny – so much is evolving so fast, it's hard to keep your head on a swivel.
One minute you're on the couch in your underwear eating Doritos re-watching The Wire, and next thing you know, Tom Segura and Christina P are doing a club show in thirty minutes, and tickets went on sale three minutes ago.
In most cities, an event like that is the shit comedy heads fantasize over. In Austin, these little nuggets of amazing happen on the regular and we don’t take it for granted.
When Freddie Gibbs Comes to Austin...
Not to be left in the bleachers of all of this chaotic goodness, hip hop mainstay Freddie Gibbs took his gnarly sense of humor to the faithful during his downtime from Austin City Limits performances, by continuing his Cokane Comedy series at Vulcan Gas Company.
And the mixture of Gibbs acting as the drunk uncle MC, welcoming up some of Austin's hard hitters thrived with the backdrop of constant R. Kelly jokes and trap beats.
With artists like Action Bronson, and Wiz Khalifa rolling through the air, the night felt looser, different than most Vulcan shows.
Gibbs worked the crowd with his seasoned up close and personal roasting skills, then bringing up first comic Cristina Mariani, who, with her Mitch Hedberg-like delivery, kept shocking the crowd over and over with her pitch-black sense of humor.
With Mariani, nothing is off limits, which makes her joke timing hit that much harder, you see where she’s going and then, you’ll likely mumble something about sheer Mortal Kombat brutality.
Following Miriani was the great and powerful Genivive Clinton, who's fast making herself known around Austin as the go-to opener, appearing on not only Kill Tony, Redban's Secret Show, but also opening for comedy kingpin Joe Rogan.
There's no review needed here. Genivive is turning into a straight comedy villain. If you haven't seen her, that's your fuck up.
Ehsan Ahmad is another absolute killer who consistently comes to the stage leaning into his jokes about airport security, "random checks," and just about everything else in his life experience.
Like Genevive, Ehsan is another one of the funniest people in town. He’s gigging regularly, so finding him won’t be hard.
Freddie Gibbs kept the crowd moving, never losing his edge, trying out jokes, engaging with everyone as he brought up his longtime friend Brian Moses. Moses, a long-standing road comic, punched through his set, delivering a master class of why he's also been a two-time Rogan guest.
To wrap up the show, fellow madman rapper Danny Brown hit the stage with Gibbs to share some personal ancedotes, including long nights partying, and shitting on himself, before surprise guest Tony Hinchcliffe came up to continue a story telling-roast session-crowd work bonanza with Brown. (Hinchcliffe and Brown wore match cowboy outfits, BTW.)
If you've been following either Gibbs or Brown, there's no surprise that either of them have evolved into rapper/comedians, offering onion-like layers that challenge the perception of what either man is truly good at, when they're so shinobi-like at both spitting bars, but also knowing how to deliver strong one-two-punch combo jokes.
The intersection of hip hop and comedy isn't a new flavor, but when dusted off, the cultures mesh, there's a sense of chaos in the air that's different and exciting. Freddie Gibbs should keep his finger on the pulse of standup.
He's right where he belongs.