Comedy review: Hannibal Buress brings new school comedy to Homestead

MUNHALL — Hannibal returned to western Pennsylvania Sunday night without having to be wheeled in by Dr. Chilton’s men, or leading a parade of elephants.
For those who don’t know, and judging by the just two-thirds filled Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead, that’s a lot of you, Hannibal Buress is the pinnacle of today’s touring comedians. Or so say people who think they know better than you.
No, he’s not as well known as the Hannibal from “The Silence of the Lambs,” or the Hannibal who heroically crossed the Alps to fight the Romans, but Buress was a fixture on the Funny or Die comedy festival that visited venues like First Niagara Pavilion, which at least puts him in the conversation of who’s today’s top touring comic.
The Chicago-native is more like the Derrick Rose of the “Who is the best Chicago Bull of all time?” conversation.
However, considering the strength, style and variety of his near 90-minute set juxtaposed to the cramped, tiny, rustic venue that sits a half-hour southeast of downtown Pittsburgh, Buress certainly was, to borrow his words, “wine in a sippy cup.”
Aside from his pure writing ability, what sets Buress apart is his pacing and cadence — he’ll deliver fast, then slow, then loud, then quiet, then keep delivering through the laughter, and then short the laughter.
Buress also has a talent for finding new ways to present old tropes. As he touched on in a previous Comedy Central special, he used observational humor with some modern-day music. Among the many songs he targeted (most of which with contents not fit for print), he mocked the beat of Iggy Azalea’s megahit, “I’m So Fancy.” But as he’s starting the string of observations, he cues his DJ, Tony Trimm, to play the mentioned beat.
“That was the biggest hit of the summer and it sounds like something a child would play on a keyboard just messing around!”
The evolution of observational comedy takes a big step forward from a Jerry Seinfeld “What’s the deal …” with Buress.
However, don’t limit Buress’ talent to a specific genre. As the legendary Seinfeld’s jokes were dependent on the listener having eaten airplane food or having been in a New York City taxi, or even how many comedians will find humor in misadventures in babysitting, Buress thrives on what can only be described as inclusionary comedy — the topics don’t tend the funny part, but it’s the universal understanding that can be extrapolated.
“I would’ve voted for Mitt Romney if he would’ve said I didn’t have to take my shoes off at the airport … I travel almost three times a week, but I only think about abortion a few times a day.”
Cleveland native Al Jackson opened for Buress.
His topics included his college life, the experiences as a middle school teacher in north Miami and the confidence of “13-year-old Puerto Rican rappers,” with just enough blue humor to keep the 15-year-old inside of me rolling.