Sommore: Chandelier Status

My first round with Sommore’s Chandelier Status stand-up, I’ll be honest, I shut to down after fifteen minutes. I put that down to shock as my go to excuse. I’d never seen or even heard of this comedian, but I wasn’t too impressed when right out of the gate every other word was bitch or mother fucker. That’s me keeping it real for anyone looking to check this release out.

The next day I hid out in my bedroom while the rest of the family watched television in the living room and decided to just get it over with. I stomached the first fifteen minutes all over again and took note that while maybe I wasn’t the target audience for this release, hell, the crowd wasn’t exactly breaking out into fits of hysterical laughter.

As the program neared the halfway point things suddenly started to change. I think that first half was the comedian finding her footing with her audience. Most of it seemed to me to be your average person narrating their life experiences and trying to throw some rough humor into the mix. It was mostly hit or miss with a few chuckles here as well as a few awkward moments that stand on the halfway point between being comedy and something else. At least that’s what it felt like to me.

As the second half of the program kicked in Sommore looked more comfortable with her delivery. I mean, I don’t mind excessive cussing, it’s what made acts like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison, and George Carlin so great, but along with their abuse of foul language they were animated and hit on topics that were universal in an every day living kind of way. The first half of Chandelier Status seemed alienating, be it by focusing on culture, gender, or even lifestyle, the second half was a no hold barred rant on the current in contrast with the past, sex, celebrity news (the good and bad of it), stuff that had a universal reach. Language seemed more focus as well instead of being seemingly filler.

If I had noticed how tame the audience was in the first half of the program I was a bit preoccupied by fits of laughter as I was left rolling in the second half to notice the audience at all. I was finally drawn in by jokes about sex, relationships, everyday things that I could connect with. Despite the fact that I assumed Sommore was a one trick pony, crude and vulgar language mistaken as humor, she proved, when she found her audience, she was capable of playing to the crowd. There is also a bonus interview on the disc that proves otherwise as well. Well worth checking out for the serious side of the comedian and just good enough to be a bit more then just a rainy day selection.