Hannibal Buress had his mic cut off recently while performing at a university. Saturday night, the 35-year-old comedian was only on stage performing for a few minutes when officials at Catholic University abruptly cut his set short. Apparently, he was making a joke about the church’s history of child molestation.
Buress began his set by explaining that he received an email from the university with content that he could include in his set. Restrictions included the use of foul language and topics regarding rape, sexual assault, race and sexual orientation.
Minutes into his set he referenced molestation of children, and his microphone was cut off. The crowd booed at first, then quieted so he could be heard without a mic. But the background music volume raised until he stepped off the stage.
Loyola’s Department of Programming (DOP) assistant director, Leslie Watland, told the university’s newspaper,
“DOP students did not make any day-of decisions for Hannibal Buress’ show. Student Development Administrators made the decisions.”
Buress embarked on a comedy career in late 2009, gaining recognition after being featured in Comedy Central’s The Awkward Comedy Show. This enabled him to release his first comedy album, My Name is Hannibal. He has co-starred on Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show since 2012 and featured on Comedy Central’s Broad City since 2014.
Some suggest he is responsible for bringing Bill Cosby’s rape allegations to the public’s attention. On October 16, 2014, at the Philadelphia club The Trocadero, Buress was video recorded doing an extended bit about existing rape allegations against Cosby. Buress addressed Cosby’s legacy of “talk[ing] down” to young black men about their mode of dress and lifestyle. Buress criticized the actor’s public moralizing by saying,
“Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby, so that kind of brings you down a couple notches.”
The audience appeared to respond to Buress’s accusation as an incredulous joke before he encouraged everyone to “Google ‘Bill Cosby rape’” when they got home. Buress had been using the same Cosby routine for the previous six months with little response, but the October performance went viral after being posted on Philadelphia magazine’s website. A media firestorm ensued, with numerous publications tackling the question of how Cosby had managed to maintain, as Buress called it in his set, a “teflon image” despite more than a decade of public sex abuse accusations.
Source: The Jasmine Brand
