Devin Middleton

Performance Revue

Devin Middleton engages in a socially-distanced interview about his opening set during KJ Whitehead's 'The Haggard Unicorn' album recording in January 2020.

Devin summarizes the first nine films in the Star Wars franchise in about nine minutes through a socially-conscious lens. He uses this framework as a way to critique the franchise's white-washing of the pop-culture science fiction landscape, as well as it's clumsy handling of the topic of slavery.

Devin is a musician who releases albums under the stage name Debonair Status. His most recent release, 'Black Genderfluid Depression Jamz, Vol. 563' is available now.

Time Stamps:

01:10 – Opening Set from KJ Whitehead’s Haggard Unicorn

• Mentions of Mo Less, Star Wars, The Collaboraction Theatre Company

10:31 – “I moved to Chicago in 2015…”

• Mentions of Improv, Sketch Comedy, The Sound of Music, ‘My Favorite Things’, Juicy J

14:32 – “I’ve never thought of myself as a comedian”

• Mentions of iO, Second City, ‘Who’s Line Is It Anyway?’

16:49 – Exposure is a Scam

• Reference to ‘Quitting Comedy Clubs’ from ‘What Alive People Do’, by Jamie Kilstein

• I do not support or endorse Jamie Kilstein in any way

• https://jezebel.com/progressive-performer-jamie-kilstein-ousted-from-citize-1792945836

18:15 – Introvert Tendencies

19:35 – Music Production Background(s)

• Mentions of George Carlin, Richard Pryor

21:25 – Moving

• Mention of Notre Dame, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aurora, Illinois

22:35 – “Do you consider [this] stand-up?”

• Mentions of Alt Comedy, Libertarians, Brother Nature, Napkins

24:39 – “My comedy is lazy”

25:08 – “I always want to make being thoughtful cool”

• Discussion of the term “Social Justice Warrior”

• Mentions of Black Lives Matter, Alt-Right Trolls, Common Sense Gun Laws, Police Reform, Philando Castile, Being Edgy, Labels, KJ Whitehead, Trans Comedians

32:08 – “Getting into your set”

32:35 – Shock Humor vs. “Edgy”

• Mentions of ‘The Prestige’, Dave Chappelle

34:03 – Why Was Dave Chappelle’s Audience Laughing?

• Mentions of The Chappelle show, Ashy Larry, ‘8:46’, Netflix, Louie CK

37:28 – Getting into the Set (For Real This Time)

• Mentions of Patton Oswalt, ‘Parks and Rec’

38:03 – Breaking the Fourth Wall

39:15 – Reviewing Star Wars Episodes VI through IX

• Mentions of J.J. Abrams, Rain Johnson, Nostalgia

43:50 – Conceptualizing the Bit

• Mentions of David Simon, George Floyd, COVID-19, Dated References

45:45 – Racial Bias in Star Wars (and America)

• Mentions of George Lucas, John Boyega, Plot Twists, Daisy Ridley

49:00 – The Walt Disney Corporation Kowtows to Twitter

49:20 – Murder is Just a Phase

50:10 – The Lion King is a Better Movie, “Anakin is black!”

• Mention of James Earl Jones

52:46 – “The Sith and Jedi are street gangs”

53:31 – “Leia is sold into slavery, but it doesn’t matter”

54:06 – Darth Vader Keeps Forgetting That He Loves His Son

55:23 – “Han Solo is a fuckboy”

• Mention of ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’, Ellis Island

56:53 – “The ‘Dragonball Z’ set is coming”

• Discussion of which is in Devin’s Outtakes episode

57:26 – Evaluating the Set

58:24 – Social Media, “Everything is @Debonairstatus”

59:00 – Final Words