With his new HBO show, Angry Boys, Australian comedian Chris Lilley is following the grand politically incorrect tradition of Chapelle’s Show and Da Ali G Show by skewering pop culture and testing audience’s offensive threshold when it comes to tackling portrayal of race.
Like his 2008 mockumentary, Summer Heights High, Lilley’s show (which premiered on Sunday, January 1) takes the same format by introducing characters (many of which he plays) that stem from the juvenile delinquent Daniel and his deaf middle-finger popping brother Nathan. There’s their ambiguously gay grandmother Ruth Sims, a prison officer at a juvenile center for teenage boys who also has an obsession with a guinea pigs. Then there’s the blatant Soulja Boy doppleganger, S. Mouse, a wannabe gangsta rapper who disgraced hip-hop with his smash hit, “Smack Yo Elbow.”
The latter is sure to push some buttons mainly because of his black-face performance — but his race-play doesn’t stop there. We have been introduced to Jen Okazaki, an Asian mom with a “gay” skateboarding prodigy for a son. Armed with a soft-spoken Tiger Mom tongue and a penchant for capitalizing off of her son’s talent, Lilley is sure to ruffle some Asian feathers with his offensive wit and outlandish portrayal of an overbearing mom.
As for me, it is damn funny. Really damn funny. I mean, what other mom would encourage you to go to your room to jack off? Check out the clip:
It’s so funny because it’s true! (Man, so many people are going to hate me because of that comment.)
But c’mon — who WOULDN’T want a pair of lychee flavored shoes?
