JD Rowland and his opener, Walter Battle, are two Black comedians in their 40s that specialize in cracking jokes about their families. Despite a very small (and very White) crowd, Walter began the show as confidently as if he was performing to a full house. He spoke to us about his kids, his relationship, and the struggles of co-parenting, showing no discomfort in any possible cultural differences. My favorite story was about removing all the lightbulbs when his kids couldn’t turn out the lights. After some crowd work and a joke about learning Mandarin that I found a little questionable, he introduced the headliner.
JD had a slow start, not quite as sure of himself as Walter had been, but once he got some momentum going (and realized that the crowd would go along with him even if we might not be able to relate to everything) he found his rhythm. His impression of his father was great, using physical bits to add to the gag, and I particularly enjoyed his imagining of what Jesus’ wife would be like when he hadn’t come home for three days.
Stand up comedy is hard and these two did an admirable job at putting on a good show, despite a less than ideal crowd. I truly hope that their final performance at KC Fringe is sold out and full of people ready to laugh.
