Pete Weber is, truly, a sporting hero. Hate him or love him, those who watched, watched. Beyond the viral clips, one of which lends itself to the title and theme of Vittorio Angelone’s latest stand-up special, is a sincerity that inspires those who need to hear his accidental message of self-belief. Angelone taps into this in an hour-long special best experienced in the sobering, post-Boxing Day light, and not when you’re still considering biting down on the leftover cheddar and swilling it around in your mouth with what might be red wine. Either way, Who Do You Think You Are? I Am! is an embodiment not just of Weber’s worldview captured in clips, but the consistently ambitious and entertaining blur of comedy Angelone has offered, now, for years. Flanked by two inflatable pins and sporting sunglasses not unlike the ones Weber would wear when bowling his way into the history books, Angelone is, irrespective of the show’s context, in top form here.
One hell of a Weber impression gets the bowling ball rolling, and what Who Do You Think You Are? I Am! does, beyond being an excellent, side-splitting piece of comedy, showcase how a little niche interest can evolve so rapidly. We’ve all found ourselves carried away by this film or that interview and have fixated on it, found something far deeper than we were meant to in what someone has said. To Angelone, that’s Weber, and those who don’t know of the bowling legend will certainly know barely anything about him after. But that’s not the point. Angelone has a superb knack for riffing on a subject of little interest to most, professional bowling for example, and turning it into a phenomenal show where, like anybody, you can pull moments of wisdom and inspiration from a wholly different walk of life. It’s the crux of the show, and it works brilliantly.
Not all the special is about hero Pete Weber, though. A few casual remarks from Angelone give great summaries of how comedy is evolving from long-drawn stories to suggesting a recommended list of TikToks and media reference points. How we keep up with contemporary culture now goes beyond what time this show or that film is showing – we have to maintain a real connection with facets of life which, truly, aren’t of any use to us. Doomscrolling, the dilution of comedy from awards winners now presenting cheesy game shows, it’s all in there. Crucial for Angelone is his style of performance, the fine line between the meta humour Stewart Lee deploys, the conversation with the audience rather than goading them for cheap laughs, and cultural commentaries which line up with how he carries himself on the Guide to Parenting podcast with Mike Rice.
Angelone plays the room phenomenally well, riffs off the little nuances that come from the thrill of a live audience, and it makes Who Do You Think You Are? I Am!, a tremendous viewing. Watch it, watch it again once you’ve stopped shovelling bits of leftover cheese into your mouth, and engage with what may be the best comedy special of the year. Subversion on stage is everything now people are quick enough to keep up with expected punchlines. Vittorio is a master of that, running through accents, culture, and the main man, Pete Weber, with a detail expected of a stand-up set, but with the nuance necessary to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Crucial to any great show is the direction, too, and some smart camera cuts, a little bit of lingering on the sunglasses to underscore a blind joke, those little details make all the difference for Who Do You Think You Are? I Am!.
