Chris Varias

Enquirer contributor

As the condition of the world deteriorates, Lewis Black’s ticket sales improve.

It’s a theory the comic presented during a previous performance at the Taft Theater, the venue to which he returns this week.

Are sales currently strong?

“Apparently,” Black says. “Sometimes it seems to cause an effect of, ‘I don’t want to hear this anymore,’ and then sometimes it seems to cause, ‘I just need somebody to shriek besides me.’”

During a phone conversation, Black discussed what it means to be a political comic at a time when everyone has politics on the brain.

Question: Do you remember a show in Cincinnati where an audience member returned his merch to the table for a refund, because he didn’t like things you said?

Answer: Yeah, I remember that. I forget. I was a communist or something. It doesn’t happen a lot. Not since the Iraq wars has there been people’s stumbling in. But then I really wasn’t that well-known. But now it’s like, “Really, you’re going to be upset?” People go, “You’re not doing any jokes about Obama?” “Well, he’s not the president.” “You never did jokes about Obama.” “Well, he wasn’t funny.” But I said things about Obama and was certainly not on stage raging for Obama. I was not raging for any of them. I don’t like any of them.

Q: I remember an Obama bit you did. It was more of a criticism than a joke, which illustrates your point that Obama might not have provided as much pure comedic firepower as other presidents.

A: Somebody asked what I thought of Donald Trump. And I said it doesn’t matter what I think of him. People who were not political comics three weeks ago or two months ago go onstage and basically quote him, and all of a sudden they feel like they’re doing political comedy. He has created more comedy from the time he has entered office than anyone. It’s like piles of it.

Q: It’s not easy these days to avoid the topic of politics with a comic.

A: They’re not really talking about politics. They’re just quoting the emperor who’s not wearing clothes, the new emperor who’s not wearing clothes. None of them have a stitch of clothing on. He’s consuming the oxygen in the country the way he consumed the oxygen in New York. It’s not avoidable. He’s turned television news into his private reality show.

Q: Is there room in your act for anything aside from Trump?

A: Yeah, I go into other things. Mental illness. And the fact that I’m leaving the business and going on to some other things.

Q: You’re leaving the business?

A: No. It’s a joke. I can’t. I don’t have much choice. There’s a whole section about what I will be doing rather than standup, that I’ve made this decision. And then I go on to talk about mental illness. And then there’s other stuff I stumble on along the way.

Q: You’re known for your ranting, but the live show wouldn’t work if it were nonstop ranting. Is the non-ranting as important?

A: Yeah. Over the past few years I’ve tried to rant less and show other ways that someone could express anger as long as I’m apparently an anger conduit. You don’t just have to scream. You can really get it across in other ways. And then the comments back are “Boy, he’s really getting tired.” Really? Are you listening? They’re not hearing what I’m saying. There are ways to fashion a sentence with the language and the control of the way in which you deliver the words that can be angrier than screaming. But they like the character, so what are you gonna do?

If you go

What: Lewis Black

When: 8 p.m. Thursday, April 6

Where: Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Downtown; (513) 232-6220

Tickets: $65, $49.50, $39.50