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Stand-up Whitney Cummings puts her life experience to good use

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Whitney Cummings
Jason Harris

Three stars

Whitney Cummings March 14, Venetian.

What’s more important for a comedian, being hilarious or having a strong point of view? Many industry insiders will tell you it’s the latter. If a comedian has a distinct point of view, it can be honed, branded and eventually, in one form or another, money (and maybe hilarity) will follow. Whitney Cummings brings a clear POV to the stage. She’s monetized it many times over. Luckily, she’s also really funny.

Cummings knows who she is, and she’s comfortable with it. This security opens her act up to lots of topics. Instead of lamely joking about how she couldn’t get a date, the 2 Broke Girls co-creator discussed how her success has made it harder to date. She used to be poor and dated guys who could pay for her: “I now understand why you hate us. It’s because we owe you so much f*cking money.”

Cummings often appeared on Chelsea Lately, and like the host of that show, Chelsea Handler, her age is central to her persona. Gone are the days where she’ll tell a man, “Your dick is so big, it hurts.” She continues, “It doesn’t hurt. I’m in my 30s. Nothing f*cking hurts anymore. My lower back kind of hurts, but that’s pretty much it.”

This is where Cummings is in her life. She’s largely successful. She’s confident. And by slumming it with men who don’t have their act together, she puts herself in awkward situations. Like the argument she had with some schlub who thought she might be trying to get pregnant. “Trust me, if I got pregnant with your child my lawyer would come over and terminate that sh*t himself. Don’t you worry, I don’t want a white baby ... When I want a baby, I will go to Africa and buy one like an adult.”

There were certain exaggerations that didn’t work. When Cummings feigned shock at the depravity of men’s sexual desires today, it was as if this was news to her. But she has always played around with edgy subjects, so drawing a line in the sand was unnecessary. At the end of the night, Cummings told the crowd she’s working on material for an upcoming HBO special. The jokes aren’t all there yet, but with this point of view, by the time the special airs, it’s likely to make her a lot more money.

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