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Many of the comedy clubs of planet Earth areclosed for the foreseeable future.
Its a horrendous idea with a rampantly infectious virus on the loose.
Stand-up comedy is a conversation, and an empty room and webcam are poor conversation partners.
In five minutes and 33 seconds, Macdonald reminded us of the power and purpose of stand-up comedy.
Macdonalds set doesnt build to a powerful crescendo.
If this were a late-night set, you could be forgiven for finding it sloppy.
Thats because Macdonald has never said any of this before in his life.
How could he have?
The feelings and experiences he describes hadnt become common among Americans until that very week.
Macdonald pinpoints his anxieties in a terrifying moment and shares them with the crowd.
They do, however, risk letting people down who gave them their trust.
They risk compounding the audiences unhappiness instead of relieving it.
They risk their future employment whenever they take chances in front of a possible recording machine.
Performinganynew bit is scary, even one about Spotify orThe Masked Singer.
Thirty secondsof untried material makes a comic antsy; five whole minutes is horrifying.
On the flip side, tackling controversial topics can be nerve-racking even when youve done the bit 50 times.
Courage is what this moment demands.
Macdonald acknowledges the risk upfront.
I wasnt gonna talk about the coronavirus, he begins.
One person says Ew.
They are right to be nervous.
Only someone with Macdonalds experience could pull this off.
He has such masterful comedy chops that his off-the-cuff observations come out in joke form.
He earns the audiences laughter and their trust.
Working clean wont capture the horror-fiction insanity weve been dropped into.
Macdonald says he knows other people will die but hopes to make it long enough thathewill live.
Selfish thoughts are inevitable, even when were supposed to come together as the all-for-one America of our mythology.
Its funny how Big Pharma is so evil tilnow, Macdonald says with enviable brevity.
Its like, what is it?
200 dollars a pill?
Yeah thats good, thats fine, he adds, resigned to anything that might save his life.
When were desperate, our notions of justice go out the window.
Its funny that we all now know how were gonna die, he observes.
Its just a matter of what order at this point.
Macdonald then accidentally touches his cheek.
Oh, I cant touch my fucking face!
Macdonald adds, Remember the good old days when washing your hands didnt takethree hours!?
He gets his biggest laugh yet.
Sometimes a comedian doesnt need a crafted joke.
Macdonald says that whatever he says tonight, every moment Ill be thinking of this disease.
The crowd lets him know they feel the same way.
He gets another laugh by stepping away from the front row to avoid being infected.
He observes that in this era of intense screen time, quarantine will be easy.
Macdonald will be happy to shun his friends for ESPNs Max Kellerman.
Throughout the set, Macdonald references being on cocaine.
The audience is unsure whether to believe him until he mentions tasting baby laxatives in his throat.
Realizing hes actually on drugs, they laugh.
Cocaine is no longer glamorous, especially in your 60s.
Were going to react irrationally, and its okay to admit it.
They come here tonothear about the coronavirus.
Good choice you made, Macdonald concludes, to come out and sit beside total strangers.
The audience gives him his biggest laugh yet.
Not only are they all in danger, they voluntarily made it worse.
Macdonald didnt make anybody safer with his set.
He didnt provide any useful information.
The burden of their fear got lighter knowing they shared it with everyone in the room.
