#58 - On The Road Again

Lewis is finally back on the road, as the “It Gets Better Every Day” tour gets rolling throughout the lower 48. To start, he performed six shows in four days at Hilarities in Cleveland, a comedic version of spring training. There he was treated to some excellent food including a fantastic walleye and a great Greek salad. The shows there went well, with the support of the club’s owner Nick, who, unlike many a comedy club owner, knows how to treat the comedians, the staff, and the patrons with kindness and respect. Being in Ohio was a bit of a shock for your host as in his hometown of NYC people are still acting with COVID caution, maintaining social distancing and voluntarily wearing masks indoors. This is despite the relatively high vaccination numbers. Conversely, in the Buckeye state, there’s a general feeling that the pandemic is over and they are throwing caution to the wind. Other than performing before incredibly generous audiences, the highlight of the week for Lewis was seeing the Washington Football Team beat the New York Football Giants. And that about ends the good news, as this week provided another example of a country that cannot focus on what is important, on what actually affects people’s lives. Where did the news media point their attention? Did they focus on overarching issues like the federal budget negotiations, or employment, or the health and survival of the restaurant industry? No. Their attention was on the January 6th rally, where seemingly more journalists showed up than actual participants, and to the tragic story of Gabby Petito. It’s no wonder that in this prioritizing of lurid style over substance we are unable to educate ourselves and misinformation runs amok. Where the news media clearly has a problem doing the hard work of understanding the daily existence of most Americans, the ranters have clearly channeled their angry observations into a panoply of well-articulated insights. So this week we have submissions about the struggles of being a teacher at a school in the Caribbean, scam callers and gullible Americans, the search for an empty flat surface in the home, and a query asking if everyone has forgotten how to shop in a grocery store. And as Lewis is back on the road, we have live rants from a not-so-pre-pandemic Bob Carr Theater in Orlando FL. Submit rants to Lewis https://www.lewisblack.com/live Lewis’ latest special, Thanks For Risking Your Life is available now! https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/LewisWE Subscribe to Lewis Black’s Rantcast Apple – https://bit.ly/rantcast Spotify – https://spoti.fi/3oNaPFh Google – https://bit.ly/37Zb35u Amazon – https://amzn.to/37bg8Za Follow Lewis Website – http://www.lewisblack.com Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/thelewisblack Twitter – https://twitter.com/thelewisblack Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/thelewisblack Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/OfficialLewisBlack New episodes arrive every Wednesday via The Laugh Button For advertising opportunities email: advertise@thelaughbutton.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices