http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOe7EuHclyo

In debates about evolution versus creationism, one will notice that the arguing parties are rarely apathetic. The belief systems that correspond with each of these ideas are more often than not very passionately followed. Most people who call themselves creationists do so because they directly interpret various biblical texts; people who support the theory of evolution do so because of the evidence written in various scientific texts. Of course there are those who have supported the theory of evolution with the idea of “intelligent design” (perhaps to avoid stepping on the toes of either side), but despite this, it is difficult to “sit the fence” regarding this debate. Because of the fact that this battle of ideas is so controversial, it is interesting to me how Lewis Black can stand up in front of a large group of people and ridicule creationism without receiving a negative reaction. Granted that those who had interest in and paid to see a Lewis Black stand-up routine most likely have a general idea of what his comedy is like, it is very unlikely that all of them are non-religious supporters of evolution. Why do we, the internet audience, hear belly laughs instead of shouts of outrage?
In my opinion, the reason why Black receives a positive reaction is because he is able to build ethos initially. He establishes himself as part of the Jewish community, thus relating himself to those in the audience who also follow a religion. In addition, he reminds the audience that it was the Jewish who wrote the First Testament. He even goes so far as to make a point that Jewish people are, “good at bullshit” (referring to the First Testament) and that they needed something to distract them from the fact that they “didn’t have air conditioning” back then.
By first discussing these things, he is cleverly creating a means to keep people in the audience from feeling singled out; when he pokes fun at creationism and religion, he is poking fun at his own community as well. The situation would be entirely different if an atheist were to stand in front of a group in which the majority had, at least, a religious affiliation and tell them, from a non-religious standpoint, that creationism is absurd.
After doing this, Black is then able to use other tactics, such as sarcasm and parody. During the routine, Black mentions that he doesn’t believe in creationism because he has “thoughts”. It’s a horribly vague argument to make, but the simplicity of his reasoning is poignant. The use of sarcasm only strengthens his point that anyone capable of cognition doesn’t need to question the validity of the theory of evolution. The audience’s laughs are also bolstered by the cross-eyed and slack-jawed face that Black displays after making this potentially offensive and hurtful statement.
Black also talks quite a bit about fossils and their place in the evolution versus creationism argument. He says, “Whenever anybody tries to tell me that they believe it [the creation of the earth] took place in 7 days, I reach for a fossil and go, ‘fossil’”. Yet again his argument consists of essentially one word. Rhetorically speaking, this is representative of the fallacy of hasty conclusion, but as an audience we can assume that he is using the fossil as a symbol to convince the audience of the science behind the theory of evolution. This is effective in creating humor because, again, he is making things seem like they should be entirely obvious to anyone.
The fossil is also a key element in a segment where Black creates a parody of a man he met in Georgia. The man was convinced that fossils were the “handiwork of the devil”, and Black poked fun at him by comparing the “devil” to Wild E. Coyote, a cartoon character. He went on to mention that Wild E. Coyote was evil, had a fossil-making factory, and had hired minions to scatter fossils all over the earth. The presence of a cartoon character in his argument creates humor (as it does when he discusses how the “Flinstones” is not a documentary).
Overall, I think this video is a great piece of social critique. He finds an in with the audience and plays off of it for the entire routine. The way he delivers his comedy is incredibly unique: he shouts things (“Reality!!”), makes fun of his own community, and makes odd faces. In addition to making connections with his audience, he engages them, and people seem to love it.