Like many fields before it being a stand up comedian was once an occupation that was dominated by men. In the sixties this male hold was broken when Phyllis Diller became a regular on television shows like Bob Hope’s specials and the ‘Tonight Show’. Then in the early eighties Roseanne Barr it the scene with her humor based on being a belabored working class housewife. These women were pioneers in female stand up comedy and every woman who has taken the stage and picked up a microphone owes them a debt of gratitude. If you watch one of Comedy Central’s many ‘stand up’ marathons you will now see many funny women. There is one actress of no little renown that might surprise you with her ability to hold an audience in this most difficult of performing styles; Aisha Tyler. She is best known for her appearances on television series that range from funny to highly dramatic but she was also someone who started out as a stand up comedian. She has gone back to these comic roots with her recent special for Comedy Central; ‘Aisha Tyler is Lit: Live at the Fillmore’. I have been a fan of this woman for years but have to admit that although I knew she started in stand up I didn’t realize just how good she actually was. She is multifaceted and this performance proves it. In a fashion that is becoming increasingly popular with some of the more youthfully oriented cable stations the DVD of her Comedy Central special is released a few days after the initial broadcast. This is a little more intense in language and topics than you might be used to from Tyler but it is extremely funny and well worth owning a copy. It reminded me a lot of the comedy albums that were popular in the sixties were popular comedians would showcase some of their more explicit material. Tyler covers a wide range of material all with style and flair. The DVD is released through Image Entertainment and like their other titles may not be for everyone but if you enjoy someone with a cutting edge to their humor you will love this performance. The press release that accompanied the screener noted it is ‘uncut, uncensored and unapologetic’ and it certainly lives up to that description.

Aisha Tyler is far from your average conception of a stand up comedian. She is tall and beautiful, hitting number two on Maxim’s Most Beautiful list in 2005 and hitting the six foot tall mark. Tyler is intelligent, graduating from Dartmouth with a degree in political science and has both African American and Native American ancestry. This eclectic mixture certainly blended well here since it appears that she is able to master anything she sets out to accomplish. As was the case with many of her fans I first watched on the ‘E!’ Channel’s satiric ‘Talk Soup’ which made of the plethora of soap operas on television. She also hosted the mindless ‘dating’ show ‘Fifth Wheel’. From there things began to take off for Tyler with television appearances on some of the top rated series around. She was the first black person to score a regular slot on ‘Friends’ and has been a featured regular on Fox’s runaway hit ‘24’. She also has a central character on the CBS paranormal drama ‘Ghost Whisperer’. The venue for this performance is the famous Fillmore auditorium in San Francisco. It was the birthplace for much of the rock and roll that pervaded the sixties and seventies. Everyone from the Grateful Dead to the Allman Brother’s band player there and it was a place that fans dreamt about.

The DVD begins with a little black and white film clip with Tyler singing a song about being a black woman with no butt. She was six feet tall by the time she was twelve and the only black girl in the school. Her family was vegetarians and she had huge feet and thick glasses; she was a natural to be rejected by everyone. For the white kids at school she was that strange girl who spoke like a white girl. In school she was stomping around alone like Godzilla. Many people would require years of psychotherapy after a childhood like this but Tyler discovered a healthier and more lucrative means of expression in her comedy. As she takes the stage she connects with the audience immediately. Tyler speaks about things that people in the audience can identify with like working out so hard that she broke herself. Right off she admits that she likes to drink and put on a bit of gut. Since she lives in Los Angles you can’t be kind of in shape so Tyler had to hit the gym. Tyler is a very physical comedian who can leap into a bit with gusto and twist her pretty face into all sorts of distortions. The various topics she covers run the gamut from oral sex to growing up as a racially mixed child. She does sprinkle her routine with some curse words and they flow from her mouth easily but she is no where near as bad as most modern comedians. Tyler’s approach to comedy is simple; she is like the friend that most of us have that is unable to censor their thoughts when they speak. Fortunately for us her thoughts are hysterical. Some of her material is geared towards her younger fan base such as when she talks about her friends talking her into a MySpace page. Tyler talks about how it is too much work and brings back memories of eighth grade with pleading to be my friend. For a woman some of her material is a bit strange. Tyler talks about how she saw a celebrity sex tape at a friend’s houses and went back home and started to download internet porn. This is something that would normally be material for a male comedian but she makes it work. Tyler continues with a bit about fully naked male strippers in Canada and her impression of one dancing is something that can not be described; you just have to see it. Tyler can effortlessly transition from sexual jokes to speaking about being racially mixed and the tallest in her school. These parts of her act are full of gentle, self deprecating humor that is obviously endearing to the audience.

Aisha Tyler is one of the most versatile and talented women in show business and this DVD is fantastic. There is a perfect blend of cutting edge comedy and easy going humor that keeps the pace brisk and constantly in flux. I have seen a lot of comedy DVDs of late and this one instantly became my favorite. While it is not suitable for younger members of the family this is something that the adults will enjoy many times over. It is just right when you have a few friends over for a dinner while the kids are at the grandparents.

Posted 02/13/09