SFist was excited to hit SketchFest’s Comedy Death-Ray act last night at Cobb’s. The line up (full of Mr. Show and I LOVE the ‘80’s alumns) looked promising. After the usher told us to give him $10 we landed front row seats. Which served us well for the surprise stars of the night, Paul F. Tompkins—who had by far the strongest set of the night. Seriously, give that guy his own TV show! The other notable act was the vocal stylings of Hard ‘n Phirm, who ended the night with their rendition of a Latin power love ballad, which brought down the house, and which SFist is secretly hoping someone will sing to us this Valentine’s Day.

SFist, like most of the crowd, were there to see David Cross, and able openers only served to increase our anticipation for his set. Cross's work on Mr. Show and Arrested Development are some of the funniest in contemporary comedy. Sadly, SFist was really disappointed (appalled might be the better word) by David Cross's routine. In addition to getting the smallest laughs from the crowd, it was the most blatant public display of bigotry we've witnessed in person. It's difficult to define the difference between making fun of something and attacking it. It’s a fine line, but many comics get it right: the greatest cultural and religious satire takes the beliefs held by a group of people and spins it to show the comedy inherent in those beliefs.

For example, South Park has covered the very same ground in terms of joking about Mormons by going through the Joseph Smith story (which was what Cross went through as well). South Park explicates the story to hilarious (and irreverent) effect by making it into a musical, complete with ditties about translating golden plates, angels appearing, and the plates conveniently disappearing whenever outside sources ask for evidence. Cross, on the other hand, simply laid out the story of the religion’s foundation, and at the end of major points essentially said, "Isn't that dumb?" "Can you believe how stupid these Mormons are?" Baddum-chee! Get the joke? We didn't. Showing why something is ridiculous is comedy, telling you it's dumb is more of a soap-box lecture. People at the club paid for comedy, not a lesson in religious beliefs punctuated with statements like "how dumb is that?" The let down here is that SFist, like a lot of fans there, were hoping for the type of awkward comedy Cross does best, not the kind of bit you'd expect from a talk radio show host.

It was surprising and a little confusing that a comedian of Cross's stature and talent would spend so much time on pure vitriol. Cross seemed to deflate some of the exuberance of the evening (which was buoyed by a strictly-enforced two-drink minimum), and the lag showed with paltry applause. Moreover, his bit seemed derivative of recent attacks on Mitt Romney's candidacy that have appeared in Slate and elsewhere, and which are based not on his political record so much as on his Mormonism (which is the way Cross began his piece). The difference is that the Slate authors weren't trying to be funny. Any religion, plus political aspirations on the part of one of its adherents, could equal pure comedic gold, given a proper witty treatment. Sadly, Cross fell short of the task he set himself. Cross ended his piece with "Mormons are F***ing idiots", not one of the more socially tolerant statements we've ever heard. But hey, maybe nobody told him it was Martin Luther King Day.