If you aren't into fringe/hipster comedy, David Cross is that weird guy with glasses who always used to crop up in the cooler shows and movies—the loser clerk from Men in Black, the loser husband from Arrested Development, the loser whatever from a million different episodes of a million different above-average sitcoms.
If you are into fringe/hipster comedy, David Cross is something altogether more. He's a deity, half philosopher, half ace button-pusher, the guy who helped redefine socially aware stand-up for the post-Bill Hicks generation even as he, along with Bob Odenkirk, helped redefine sketch comedy through Mr. Show's innovative themes and flow. And if you know this David Cross, then his third performance CD Bigger & Blackerer (recorded in Boston last October) is exactly what you'd expect, another satisfying, irreverent and ironic sermon on the mount.
This article appears in May 20-26, 2010.