We went to see Jerry Sadowitz’s show in Newport 8th May 2019.
In terms of content, he should be publicised by riots on the streets of every town he visits.
His show hammers everyone, and I mean everyone. There are literally (and I mean literally) no survivors. This is the act of a comic extremist who takes no prisoners. Raw, brutal, and yet once in a while we’re given ‘the reveal’, as comedy and magic intersect.
Back in 1999, to promote an ‘Eastern exercise program’, I appeared on his show and met him briefly afterward. I glimpsed ‘the other’ Jerry Sadowitz, when his act had ended – he was very friendly. So as I lead up to an example of his work, you have to realise for every comic there is an act to be performed, and Jerry’s act is to push the boundaries so there are no boundaries left.
Once such example was when he talked of Megan Markle (wife of Prince Harry) being a ‘Paki’. But before you get outraged, he followed up with “I know she’s not a Paki…but what is racism without ignorance” – followed by his trademark comedy dance. And there we have the reveal. This is a sort of conceptual leaping – surface, to deep.
On another occasion he says, this is his impression of “Michael Palin doing an impression of Harry Potter” – he then does an impression of British politician Jacob Rhys-Mogg. Once more, the laying in mind to ‘get the joke’ is a series of chained events – with the inhabitant of personalities akin to a Russian Doll – nested, not linear – and very much like Jerry himself.
