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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