Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hannibal Buress returns to Miami
Actor, writer and comedian Hannibal Buress would prefer that this sentence not include two words with which he may always be inextricably entwined.
So we’ll put them here, in a separate sentence, in a separate paragraph, in the only time they will appear in this story: Bill Cosby.
On Saturday, Buress will take the stage at Miami’s Olympia Theater for two performances, each being filmed for a comedy special, his first since 2016’s Netflix show “Comedy Camisado.” The destination for this self-produced special is still being discussed.
“Comedy Camisado” was a tour de force in observational storytelling and the surreal experience of day-to-day life in the shoes of Hannibal Buress. It included a section of mystified reflection on the period in which he became famous for a 2014 joke that began the #MeToo takedown of a man who was America’s favorite TV dad.
If “Comedy Camisado” was his attempt to move on from that story, it merely drew more attention to the controversy. So, don’t ask.
“I was moving on then, and I’m moving on now. Next question,” says Buress, well known for TV roles on “The Eric Andre Show” and “Broad City,” and appearances in films ranging from “Baywatch” to “The Secret Life of Pets.”
In the special being filmed in Miami this weekend he’ll try to change to conversation by targeting another pop-culture star who ran afoul of the law: Hannibal Buress.
Buress was arrested by Miami police during Art Basel in 2017, charged with misdemeanor disorderly intoxication. A video of the arrest went viral and launched the #FreeHannibalBuress hashtag.
The incident will figure prominently in Buress’ shows on Saturday. Speaking by phone from Toronto, he won’t tip his hand further.
“It’s a pretty long story in the set and I wanted to record it there and get that feel, that energy,” Buress says. “I thought it would be interesting to … talk about the situation in front of people who live in that city.
“The bit works anywhere,” he says, “but when you have local material, people connect to it.”
If society has changed since “Comedy Camisado” debuted on Netflix in February, 2016, Buress isn’t sure audience expectations have.
“That’s a question for audiences. I do my shows and do what I enjoy and what’s funny,” he says.
But he does appreciate the work latenight comedians put in to find new veins of humor. It’s a unique challenge, he says.
“John Oliver might do a 20-minute segment on credit checks, something that probably wouldn’t have been interesting at all,” he says. “Comedy is helping people digest subjects that they wouldn’t normally want to read or hear about. Humor can really message it in a way that’s funny and informative.”