Stage Rage

Stage Rage

Some comics quip. Others whine. But Lewis Black’s métier is the rhapsodic rant. On his regular “Daily Show” appearances, he tugs on his tie and channels both Rodney Dangerfield and mad-as-hell Howard Beale, building from sugary sarcasm to a climactic, blood-vessel burst of rage that out-Richters many earthquakes. A regular when Summerfest did stand-up, he’s in the big house this time, where his gleeful tirades won’t get swallowed up by competing weather systems and stages. Lewis Black (Sept. 14). Riverside Theater. 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., 414-286-3663, riversidetheater.org.

Some comics quip. Others whine. But Lewis Black’s métier is the rhapsodic rant. On his regular “Daily Show” appearances, he tugs on his tie and channels both Rodney Dangerfield and mad-as-hell Howard Beale, building from sugary sarcasm to a climactic, blood-vessel burst of rage that out-Richters many earthquakes. A regular when Summerfest did stand-up, he’s in the big house this time, where his gleeful tirades won’t get swallowed up by competing weather systems and stages.

Lewis Black (Sept. 14). Riverside Theater. 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., 414-286-3663, riversidetheater.org.

Paul Kosidowski is a freelance writer and critic who contributes regularly to Milwaukee Magazine, WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio and national arts magazines. He writes weekly reviews and previews for the Culture Club column. He was literary director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater from 1999-2006. In 2007, he was a fellow with the NEA Theater and Musical Theater Criticism Institute at the University of Southern California. His writing has also appeared in American Theatre magazine, Backstage, The Boston Globe, Theatre Topics, and Isthmus (Madison, Wis.). He has taught theater history, arts criticism and magazine writing at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.