TIP Really Aint Funny

Over this past weekend I decided that I would finally give in and give TI's new comedy special "Cheaper Than Therapy" a try. You may be thinking why? Like you, I questioned my decision in thinking the same. Why now? Why Comedy? But my curiosity had gotten the best of me. For one, because I am an avid T.I. fan, we're talking about I'm Serious, Trap Muzik, and of course, King. Since T.I. came on the scene in the early 2000s, I've always admired T.I's songwriting ability, his swag, his vocabulary (which has become a social media inside joke), and that he always stood on morals. His album King was practically the soundtrack to my 2006. But as I grew, I noticed that there was a clear disconnect between his new music and the music he I had grew up listening to. I met him as dope boy TIP, and he had become T.I. the reality star and social activist. Now even further from his 2006 album King, T.I. has switched gears to comedy. Before I press play on the review here are a few thoughts about it. 

What qualifies me to critique comedy? I have watched every Dave Chappelle special and every Kevin Hart special, which shows a complete spectrum of comedy, Dave’s dark humor and Kevin Hart’s comedic timing when it comes to his mannerisms, plus I watch Chocolate Sundaes on YouTube, but my most proud qualification of all, I was a Comic View baby. There were so many nights I would stay up watching Comic View on BET. Also, I used to watch Def Comedy Jam, we only had HBO for a bit, but when we did, best believe I was tuned in. Stand Up Comedy is a genre I regularly look for on NetFlix, so with well over 100 watch hours of comedic routines and from a wide range of comedians, this qualifies me to answer the question for T.I.'s comedy special. For T.I. is comedy really cheaper than therapy?

We start with his appearance, which was undoubtedly inspired by Eddie Murphy's outfit in his special "Raw". But it also seemed inspired by Martin Lawrence's loose look in his special "You So Crazy". With a swagger and an outfit that paid homage to Eddie Murphy’s Raw red leather suit I can say, at least he's done some studying of the greats. But did he really put in his 10,000 hours? He’s only 3 years in and has a comedy special in his hometown of Atlanta, which from the start of the show he made sure to let the crowd know that this wasn't a concert. A clever jab to start off the job, but this is heavyweight fight and it's gonna take more than a snicker to get a good laugh from me.

Let's talk about some of the science of comedy. Comedy is an artform that has so many measurable metrics, one of the most important ones being, timing. I've gotta admit his timing seemed off. His jokes ran together. He didn't know how to let some jokes breathe and when to breathe at times. They just didn’t land the way he had in his head. A lot of the laughs seemed to be forced from the crowd more like a studio audience on queue than a real audience that connected with the jokes. It was a room of friends and it seemed like his friends were being nice.

But there were a few bright spots. T.I. has always been a great storyteller and this did translate to his show. He came out to his song “About The Money” which he used to set up his jokes about Young Thug. He talked about the government using his lyrics against him in his RICO charge, which he told a great joke about nobody knowing what Young Thug says in the verse of the song, "He obviously rappin in cursive." Then he proved that know one knows what Young Thug is really saying as he had the crowd hilariously try to recite his "Live My Lifestyle" verse, the first 4 bars nobody could repeat. Then went into a story about repeating back Thug what he thought he said in the verse, which Young Thug hilariously replied, "OG you right!"

​Atlanta has a lot of competition when it comes to dating and T.I. let the crowd know that love in Atlanta is circumstantial, she with you until she sees someone like Usher. He then went into a story about walking home because Usher called shotgun with the person he rode to the club with, which then led into a horrible imitation of Usher. It's his transitions from joke to joke that were really rough and often were awkward and off kilter.

He then gets a little personal as he goes into his relationship with Tiny, starting with his jokes about her beating him, the way his voice inflections came off it sounded more like boy who cries wolf than funny joke. It’s like his jokes that were building from a story at times weren’t fully flushed out and just went to a dead end. But I've gotta say one of the most disappointing parts of the special was the part he used in the trailer. In real-time the joke wasn't funny. It was the edit of the trailer that made it funny. Mostly because the timing was off so bad. ​

Back to relationship jokes. He also had this joke about he and his wife going on a double date with friends and that comparison is the thief of joy. Great life advice. But bad joke. The joke didn’t land when he was comparing his reaction to his wife being late to his wife’s friend being late. But the story never really took a funny turn. It was funny when he said take me on a double date with couple that’s been tested like Kirk and Rasheda. Cardi B and Offset. Yea that's a real test. 

A shining moment. I gotta give it to him on the part where he talked about his kids, it was one of the funnier parts of the special, especially when he talked about his son King. He literally talked for the last 15 minutes of the show just about his son. But his timing was still off at times, and he hasn’t perfected mannerisms the way Kevin Hart has. He talked about being shocked his son graduated, I was thinking, us too. He talked about his son Messiah slash Buddy Red being the one who had the ultimate confidence and a free spirit. Which he says his kids all got a piece of him, "But King, he got the skip fade, cap to the side T.I. How does he act like me at a time he didn’t even know me." He also did an impression of King standing up on the table and yelling, “Hell, naw where were y'all niggas at when the Feds hit?" 

The End! Well, that's what it felt like, the ending was so awkward, he just said, "Thank you Atlanta" and walked off stage with his single "I'm Serious“ playing in the background. It seemed like he was on a time crunch, like he would have to penalty to the building if they didn't get everyone out before the hour was up. There weren't any end credits, no pictures, or audience reactions. Just The End! 
The verdict. T.I. is on a side mission. Not all side missions earn money. Not all side missions make you popular, for the right reasons. Truthfully, I say don’t watch this after watching a Chappelle special. This is like watching a new comedian that is still finding his own style and delivery. He put this special out too soon. But he has the money to do it, and he tried, which I can't knock him for trying. This is a new medium that will take time. He's still a rap legend. He still can get audiences to buy tickets. But would I recommend you paying to see this comedy special. Maybe not sober because a by shot 5, who cares how bad the joke is. And as always, drink responsibly. 

So to answer the question. Therapy might not have been cheaper than comedy. But At least with therapy, the therapist isn't laughing at you, or at least in your face. 

Let us know what you think of the comedy special and if you see T.I. having a real future in comedy.

Watch the comedy special here: TIP AINT FUNNY