Todd Glass: Act Happy (2018)

Todd Glass: Act Happy receives the lowest rating I have ever given a comedian -- and I am a very copacetic reviewer. That said, I think Todd has the stage presence and chops to carry off a winning performance -- and he may well have done so previously, since I knew nothing about him before watching this special -- even if he has ADHD, as some suggest, because I see how he could make that work for him. But no, his failings were in being gimmicky, tedious, and tendentiously obnoxious (schmaltzy, to use an old-school Yiddish term). His band was great -- I could listen to them playing real music all night -- but he used them to schvitz "public domain" bits like wah-wah-wah, rim shot, and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." They were also shills, pretending to throw their voices from the audience -- while admitting to it, as he tried to joke about it. Worst of all were the "improv" songs from him and the band, with lyrics literally as bad as "blah-blah-blah" -- with intentionally bad meter and vocals -- admittedly added in case he didn't have enough material to fill the show. Painful! Lamentably, his act also included 5 minutes talking about his drug use, 5 minutes of light talk about his "coming out" and how gays and straights are "the same" (he can say what he wants, but why can't others?), and 5 minutes of clunker joke ideas (again, just to fill time, though justified by claiming he was out of time). In fact, there was only one line where I nearly chuckled -- but I forget what it was. I want to like the guy, so I will stop at 1.5 stars. (1-24-2018)