The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, January 28, 2014 — 5A

Aziz Ansari will 
text your boy-toy

‘Parks and Rec’ star 
brings a hilarious set 
to Masonic Temple 

By KAREN HUA

Daily TV/New Media Editor

This past Sunday, Aziz Ansari 

graced us with his presence at a 
jam-packed Masonic Temple in 
Detroit. Just a day after tickets 
were released for sale last month, 
we all had to scramble to find 
a pair of decent seats. Glancing 
around before the show, I noticed 
the eclectic demographic of the 
audience ranged from older mar-
ried couples, college hooligans 
and average middle-aged friends.

Ansari is best known for his 

endearingly eccentric character, 
Tom Haverford, on the lauded 
hit show “Parks and Recreation.” 
As a person and stand-up comic, 
though, Ansari does not stray too 
far from Tom’s persona, as if they 
are almost one and the same.

Even before he appeared on 

stage, Ansari’s familiar, chipper 
voice warmly welcomed us in 
from the cold. He kindly asked 
us (as his alter ego Manager Egg-
plant Parmesan) to turn off our 
devices — or else “walk out the 
doors and get hit by a fucking 
bus.”

To open was Twitter-extraor-

dinaire, “Parks and Rec” and 
“Kroll Show” writer Joe Mande, 
who has been following Ansari 
on tour thus far. Though his 
mockery of Detroit was tasteful, 
and his story about Mike Hucka-
bee was quite funny, his general 
stage presence felt lethargic com-
pared to the hyper vibes we were 
anticipating from Ansari. He was 
slightly stoic in a way that did not 
completely compliment his mate-
rial — but we had to keep in mind 
that he is primarily a writer, not a 
performer. Nevertheless, Mande 
was what an opener is supposed 
to be — a warm-up to prepare the 
audience for hilarity to ensue.

Finally, Ansari sauntered confi-

dently onto the stage, classic Aziz-
smirk on his face, standing tall (or 
short) in his crisp, black suit. Even 
if he had not prepared material, 
Ansari would have been enter-
taining by the sole nature of his 
peppy, energetic attitude. He had 
an effortlessness with the mic, a 
familiarity with live laughter of 
this magnitude — and a complete 
unashamed, audacious ability to 
be a bit vulgar — especially when 
he mimed jerking off into the the-
ater.

Despite his call for no technol-

ogy, Ansari actually prompted the 
use of our cell phones during his 
set. He understood that restrain-
ing photos and messaging during 
the hour would be impossible — 
especially for a crowd of millen-
nials (and wannabe-millennial 
grandmas also addicted to tech-
nology). To combat this inevitabil-
ity, he posed and encouraged the 
audience to get the flash photog-
raphy out of its system. Though 
hesitant about the legitimacy of 
Ansari’s invitation, the audience 
couldn’t deny a free photo op from 
the cheeky comedian and his 
mile-wide smile.

Ansari seamlessly melded a 

casual, conversational effect with 
his formal content. There was 
structure in his set, but he was 
also such a brilliant improviser 
that his material never felt forced 
or stale even after repetition to 
other tour cities already.

Ansari started by speaking 

about his first-generation Ameri-
can status, an identity many audi-
ence members also shared. He 
progressed to discussion about 
how life for women was undeni-
ably so much harder — and he 
spoke so ludicrously about the 
ridiculous expectations of men 
that he perfectly painted what 
was wrong with gender roles. His 
jokes were incredibly relatable 
and reminded us of our privilege. 
He emphasized these concepts 
by feigning voices of naiveté — 
enunciating how preposterous we 
sound with our first world prob-
lems.

Finally, he addressed a promi-

nent issue with social media 
— how we create our own convo-
lutions in our relationships. This 
was certainly Ansari’s best section 
in terms of comedic writing — and 
he also received the most audi-

ence reception as we all hurled 
over in laughter. Ansari allowed 
us to laugh at our own hypocriti-
cal natures — as he pointed out 
how we expect a candor we our-
selves withhold — showing how 
we perpetuate our own demented 
dating culture.

Just as he persistently polled 

and questioned the audience 
throughout the night, he fur-
thered his audience interaction 
by asking people to come forward 
with their personal romantic text 
messages. Much to our shock, 
he proceeded to read aloud all 
of one woman’s messages with 
her current boy-toy — basically 
shitting on their conversation. 
He commented on every awk-
ward moment, poked fun at their 
excessive use of “LOL,” and ulti-
mately demonstrated how our 
ability to converse comfortably 
has declined so much, even with 
the advent of advanced technol-
ogy. Finally, he proceeded to send 
a text back to her boy – one single 
top-hat emoji. He reassured her, 
“Don’t worry — just tell him Aziz 
sent that text.”

What Ansari does so brilliantly 

is create genuine social commen-
tary, allowing us to contemplate 
our own privilege and habits. 
However, he is precise with his 
comedic timing, making sure to 
interject any sentimental sincerity 
with a crude joke before the atmo-
sphere becomes too dismal.

At heart, Ansari is a feminist 

and social justice activist. But 
unlike typical activists, he uses 
comedy to convey his message. 
By laughing at ourselves and our 
own contradictory natures, we are 
able to fundamentally see what is 
wrong with ourselves. Humor pro-
vides just the right amount of con-
trast to make the issues in society 
fully visible.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

NBC

Raaaaaaaandy.

Folk the Police 
returns to Blind Pig

By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY

Daily Arts Writer

Folk tributes to hip hop cer-

tainly had me intrigued, and even 
a tad anxious. Could this keep me 
entertained for four whole hours? 
The answer: YES. Folk the Police 
returned to The Blind Pig for its 
fifth year this past Sunday. Over 
four hours, 16 artists performed 
two songs each, all paying tribute 
to the great artists of hip hop. Cov-
ers included songs by Tupac, Emi-
nem, Missy Elliot and Jay-Z.

The night began with a few 

remarks by the event’s creator 
before he introduced the first band. 
The Way Down Wanders opened 
the show with a reimagined ver-
sion of Eminem’s “Cleanin’ Out 
My Closet.” They set the bar high 
with both talent and energy, and 
the remainder of the lineup kept 
the party going.

Iggy Shevak brought a gritty 

and growling cover of “Fancy,” 
and a crowd favorite, “The Fresh 
Prince of Bel-Air” theme song. Fol-
lowing was Mike Vial’s awesomely 
hilarious redo of “The Real Slim 
Shady.” The spirit of modern hip-
hop remained solid through Dave 
Menzo’s “99 Problems,” the better-
than-the-original “Ignition,” Keri 

Lynn Roche’s “Fuckin’ Problems” 
and her “Lose Yourself.” Between 
each set, D.J. Cataclysmic spun 
some solid tunes. Kanye, Beyoncé 
and a slew of danceable beats kept 
the crowd going during some of 
the lengthier set changes.

A young Olivia Millerschin stole 

the middle of the show with the 
minor “M” sharpied on both her 
hands and a white shirt blazed 
with “Bitches” across it. She 
brought the crowd in for “It Wasn’t 
Me” and took all the ’90s kids back 
to childhood with Ciara’s “Good-
ies.” She set the bar high once 
again, but The Accidentals came in 
and brought down the house with 
a shouting cover of A Tribe Called 
Quest’s “Can I Kick It?”

It seemed like eventually the 

bands couldn’t get any better, but 
Folk the Police continued to raise 
the energy into its third and fourth 
hours. FTP veterans Anna Lee’s 
Company and Nicole P’Simer 
came later in the evening. Anna 
Lee’s Company sang some old-
school hip hop with Naughty by 
Nature’s “O.P.P.” and a dirty south 
favorite, “It’s Hard out Here for a 
Pimp.” P’Simer brought some fun 
twists on Mystikal’s “Shake Ya 
Ass” and Missy Elliot’s “Work.” 
These two were clear crowd favor-

ites, and their experience showed 
tremendously throughout their 
sets (not to mention that P’Simer 
got a bra thrown at her).

As hip hop always does, the 

night took time to pay tribute to 
social issues. Abigail Stauffer led 
a short “Black Lives Matter” chant 
as a lead into Tupac’s “Keep Ya 
Head Up.” Stauffer and her band-
mates’ harmonization on “Since a 
man can’t make one / He has no 
right to tell a woman when and 
where to create one” was emotion-
al and powerful, to say the least. 
It was especially important to see 
these artists not only pay tribute 
to the music itself, but also the cul-
ture of hip hop.

Finally, Scissor Now re-ener-

gized the post-midnight crowd 
with a loud and rocking “Bust 
a Move,” before The Euphorics 
closed out Folk the Police with an 
awesome throwback to The Black 
Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love.”

Some of the band members 

were in high school and some 
of the crowd were definitely 
longtime members of AARP. 
Folk 
the 
Police 
offers 
a 

welcoming 
environment 
for 

everyone to come and enjoy hip-
hop music through the lenses of 
local artists.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Martin wasn’t dreaming of an Oscar snub.
Oscar nominations 
snub Black artists

By REBECCA LERNER

Daily Arts Writer

White. Male. Disappointing. 
When the nominations for the 

2015 Oscars were announced, 
an unimpressed public took to 
the blogosphere to debate the 
Academy’s lack of diversity in 
its selections. Each nominat-
ed actor in a lead or support-
ing category – 20 in all – is 
white. Every nominated direc-
tor and screenwriter is male. 
This homogenous and pasty 
crew has amounted to the least 
diverse group of nominees since 
1996, a painful reflection of the 
Academy’s 93 percent white and 
77 percent male electorate. The 
Academy’s decision to ignore 
some truly magnificent films 
feels less like a snub and more 
like a slap.

One of the most beautiful 

films of the summer, “Belle,” 
deserved much more recogni-
tion than it received. In a fan-
tastic use of ekphrasis, Gugu 
Mbatha-Raw 
(“Beyond 
the 

Lights”) brings to life a 1779 
painting of Dido Elizabeth 
Belle, a mixed-race woman 
raised in England by a blue-
blooded family. The film is 
witty and unafraid, taking on 
questions of race and gender 
that enthrall its audience.

Another 
fearless 
portray-

al of race relations this year, 
“Dear White People,” was also 
rebuffed at the Oscars. Set at a 
fictionalized Ivy League school, 
the film revolves around the 
simmering racial tensions of an 
overwhelmingly white campus 
that eventually boils over. Sam 

(Tessa 
Thompson, 
“Selma”), 

the host of a provocative radio 
show, 
and 
nerdy 
journalist 

Lionel (Tyler James Williams, 
“Everybody Hates Chris”) deal 
with the frustrations of being 
Black students at a school domi-
nated by the privileged and pre-
sumptuous.

But, the most shocking snub 

of 2015 was “Selma,” one of 
the most touching and cultur-
ally relevant films of the year. 
“Selma” retraces Martin Luther 
King Jr. in early 1965, when he 
and other Civil Rights activists 
joined forces to fight voter dis-
crimination in the South. The 
director, Ava DuVernay (“Mid-
dle of Nowhere”), would have 
been the first African-Amer-
ican woman to ever receive a 
best director Oscar nomina-
tion. DuVernay shows both the 
micro and macro of King’s life, 
including the tolls the move-
ment had on personal life and 
the hardships of the battle 
against systematic racism and 
injustice.

One of the arguments used 

against “Selma” is the glar-
ing historical inaccuracy in its 
portrayal of President Lyndon 

B. Johnson. The film falsely 
portrays LBJ as an antagonis-
tic obstruction in King’s fight 
for fairness when, in fact, the 
march at Selma was John-
son’s idea. In the true version 
of events, Johnson took action 
to make sure the protesters 
would be protected, and King 
and Johnson worked together 
to effect change. While the 
inaccuracies of the movie are 
frustrating, they dramatize the 
conundrums of a president in 
a divided country with many 
issues to confront. These flaws 
do not outweigh the movie’s 
hard and important work.

These films are a way for 

their Black directors, actors 
and producers to express their 
frustration about the oppres-
sion they have faced. The 
refusal of the Academy Awards 
to recognize the breath-taking 
work of African Americans 
in film shows a great divide 
between those who will lis-
ten to their stories and those 
who will not. As a Caucasian 
American woman, I write this 
article not as someone who 
can recognize the tragedies of 
“Selma” or the micro-aggres-
sions of “Dear White People” 
from my own life, but as an ally 
ready to learn. The Academy 
should not turn a blind eye to 
these works because they don’t 
identify with them, but take 
a genuine look at them to feel 
the compassion they evoke. 
They should promote them, 
give them the recognition they 
deserve and serve as an ally to 
the oppressed. Above all, they 
should shut up and listen.

The Academy’s 
decision feels less 
like a snub and 
more like a slap.

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