Words by Jon Chattman Photos by Marc Millman

You caught him recently in the comedy Blockers, and will go see him this summer in Tag. You already love him on Comedy Central’s Broad City, listen to his podcast regularly, and still marvel at his work on The Eric Andre Show. You forgive him for last summer’s Baywatch, didn't know he wrote for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, and thank him for helping lead to the eventual take down of Bill Cosby. Not sure what I mean but that last statement? Google it, and look up “living in a bubble” as well.

Moving on, you probably just dig Hannibal Buress and his unique approach to comedy. This was evident on May 17 when the comedian made a triumphant return to The Capitol Theatre. In an hour-plus set just about everything connected with the crowd and few topics were off limits from the water in Flint, Michigan to a tracheostomy. I’ll just say autotune was involved in the latter joke.

There is literally no one like Buress in stand-up. He comes on stage and just starts talking, throws out random observations, gives a play-by-play about hilarious situations that happened to him and/or the world, and throughout it all bursts out laughing about everything he says. It all looks effortless. He drops funny golden nuggets in such a carefree way that it all just seems that he’s doing everything on the fly. Smart as hell, he’s not. Sure, the comedian is riffing along the way and reacts to whatever happens during the course of the night (case in point: an audience member actually booed a heckler and Buress reacted with a witty response), but make no mistake, everything he does is choreographed to perfection.

The laughter is infectious because the content and delivery is there. For example, a playful take down of 2 Chainz was hilarious. He explains how het met the rapper and discovered he’s a deeply religious man, but then plays an excerpt of a song where he raps about praying for a Bentley truck. He then envisions what it must be like to see the rapper praying for a Bentley SUV. He shares a story about how a one-night-stand fan dissed him online, and how he didn't know how to react to it. As he’s talking about it, he reads the actual letter that’s shown on the screen behind him. This drew the biggest laughter of the night. Another huge laugh? A bit about how he won’t do charity shows because the last thing he would want to do is bomb at, say, a cancer fundraiser.

You know, comedians and bands are so similar. There are a plethora of both, and it’s so hard to separate one from the other. That’s why so many fail on the funny and music fronts. It’s hard to break from the pack when you simply can’t find your own voice. The best bands have their own identity and stay true to it and it's the same with comedy. Buress has his own voice and commands the stage. And just as he did three years ago, the comedian-actor-writer rocked the Cap and left our sides aching. And if you were there, he left one helluva haunting image of a Keurig machine.

Words by Victoria Caputo Photos by Marc Millman

This past Thursday, The Cap audience was brought to tears of laughter when comedian, actor and writer, Hannibal Buress, took the stage! The 35 year old Chicago native brought down the house with jokes and bits centering around music culture and societal topics. The show, while very raunchy and provocative, was entertaining to say the least. He’ll definitely keep you laughing, trust me: my mouth was hurting after the show from laughing and smiling so much! Burgess’ use of audio and visual technologies combined with his hilarious satirical personality is enough to appeal to any sense of humor.

Buress began his comedy career at an open mic session in 2002. Since then, he has gone on to win a number of awards, such as Chicago’s Funniest Person and the American Comedy Award. In addition to his comedy career, Buress has developed a career in the acting world as well. He has featured in a number of movies, such as Neighbors, Daddy’s Home, and Blockers. He also stars in many hit television shows, such as Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and Broad City.

If you don’t see Buress in some productions, don’t worry, he may still be there! Buress also does a number of voices for animated movies and television shows, such as Buddy (The Secret Life of Pets), Hefty Jeff (Bobs Burgers) and Miles (BoJack Horseman). Not only does Buress do comedy, film and television, but he has even dabbled into the video game world as well! Buress’ voice features in two hit video games: Grand Theft Auto V (Himself) and NBA 2K17 (Ice).

With all Buress is doing in his life, it’s nearly impossible to miss him! If you do, however, I definitely recommend trying to catch him while he’s on tour or even just watching one his movies or television shows. If you’re a lover of all things comedy, Hannibal Buress is a must see guy for you!

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