Ralphie May: Too Big to Ignore

In this Comedy Central performance filmed in Milwaukee's Pabst Theater, plus-sized, Tennessee-born standup comedian Ralphie May brilliantly wields ethnic and gender stereotypes—the tools of the "hate comic"—to instead put across a humanist theme of unconditional acceptance. Beginning with disarming, bawdy personal tales about his sexual urges and avid pot use, May veers off into uproarious (yet complimentary) observations on Mexicans, Jews, and gays. May credits homosexuality in taking Greek-god males off the market (in pairs, no less), which has allowed homely guys like himself a bigger advantage in scoring hot women. Nearly the whole middle section of May's routine is spent defending the nation's multicultural mosaic against neo-cons and racists (touching on the MLK Day-phobic state of Arizona, and introducing an anecdotal villain—an upscale, Whole Foods-shopping mom who can't comprehend that her precious organic salad wouldn't exist without the labor of the Latinos she loathes). After doing tours of prisons and battlefields, May concludes that the only “colors” that matter are “rich” and “poor,” although those who remember the L.A. riots might dispute May's assertion that the 1990s were an age of pan-racial peace, prosperity, and cooperation that ended when 9/11 ushered in renewed xenophobia. But the big guy scores with a bit imagining bin Laden's corpse abused in a goofy Weekend at Bernie's style YouTube video, as well as a George Carlin-like riff on replacing ethnic slurs with brand names of yummy cookies—ultimately earning a standing ovation at the end. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)