Home, With New Jokes

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A sign at a cafe in the Charleston Gaillard Center read “Welcome Aziz Ansari. Treat Yo’ Self,” a reference to Ansari’s character from the former NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.” Ansari, who was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and grew up in Bennettsville, was about to have a homecoming of sorts.

He took the stage Tuesday night at the center, and the crowd in the sold-out auditorium let him know he was home, too, giving him a partial standing ovation. Ansari, in jeans and a red plaid shirt, responded by saying Charleston was “really one of my favorite places,” before beginning a comedy set testing out new material.

The show was among a handful of performances that Ansari, 35, has given since January, when Babe.net published accusations from an anonymous woman saying he had behaved inappropriately with her on a date. The woman said that when they returned to his apartment, he tried to pressure her into having sex despite her repeated refusals. Eventually, Ansari called the woman a car. The next day, she sent a lengthy text message to Ansari explaining how “uneasy” his behavior had made her. Ansari wrote back, the article reported, saying, “Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I’m truly sorry.” In a statement after the article was published, Ansari said, “I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.”

He added: “I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.”

Though the reporting methods were widely criticized, the article became a flashpoint in a debate over the #MeToo movement, especially because of Ansari’s reputation as a feminist. (His book was titled “Modern Romance.”) Ansari mostly disappeared from public life after the article appeared and has not publicly spoken about it since. “Master of None,” the Netflix show he created with Alan Yang, finished its second season in 2017 and has not returned, though the streaming service has said it is open to further episodes.

Ansari and other high-profile men who have faced #MeToo accusations have begun testing a return to performing stand-up. Louis C.K., who admitted in November that he had masturbated in front of female colleagues, performed unannounced last month at the Comedy Cellar, drawing searing criticism. Jeremy Piven, the “Entourage” actor who has denied accusations of sexual misconduct over several years, has been trying out his stand-up skills at several sites this summer.

Ansari has actually been working out new material for months under the radar. In May, he performed several nights at the Comedy Cellar in New York. He also gave a series of shows last month in Wisconsin and Philadelphia. On Tuesday night, roughly 1,800 turned out to see him, one of his largest crowds to date.

Several in the audience said they were not aware of the accusations. “I’m sorry, what went down?” Mollie Dadin, 41, said as she waited for the show when asked if she had any reservations about Ansari. “I don’t follow any sort of social media.”

Her husband, Brian, also 41, sat next to her outside the auditorium. He had heard about the accusations, but turned to Dadin and assured her, “It’s not like a Weinstein-y kind of thing.”

Several other conversations with audience members at the Charleston Gaillard Center yielded similar results. Some did not know why Ansari had been absent from public life, and the ones who did said they were not concerned.

Blake Devereux, 32, who followed Ansari’s television work, was unaware of the article, and her boyfriend, Rich Lavecchia, 58, had not heard of Ansari, period. But Lavecchia said that on an Uber ride to the theater, his driver had told him about the allegations.

“Mind blown,” Devereux said.

Ansari was originally scheduled to play one night here. But a few days before the show, a second date was added, according to an ad on Facebook, “due to overwhelming demand.”

At the same time, he made it clear to ticket holders that he did not want jokes from the show to leave the theater. An email went out to audience members Tuesday morning advising them that “all cellphones and smart watches will be placed in a lockable pouch,” and that “use of performance materials” was prohibited. This is not unusual for comedians working out new material — this show was titled “Working Out New Material” — but comedians typically hone new bits at smaller clubs, not in front of more than 1,000 people.

Sydney Rebarick, a 26-year-old special education teacher, and her cousin Jade Ward, 39, made the two-hour drive from Myrtle Beach. As they were sitting at the back of the auditorium, Rebarick fondly recited a joke from a previous Ansari special. He was one of her favorite comics, but she was well aware of the accusations.

“He’s obviously going to have to address it,” Rebarick said before Ansari’s set. “I want to hear him out on this, which I know sounds weird because I know any of the other bajillion sexual allegationsthat have come out” — she paused and let out an expletive, cursing others who have been accused. Eventually, Ward interjected, saying that Ansari was not big enough to be a physical threat.

“That’s not it,though,” Rebarick responded, raising another aspect of the complex debate surrounding the controversy. “It’s the principle of the matter. If someone is uncomfortable and telling you no, you should stop.”

The discussion continued.

“He was probably making a joke, and it was taken the wrong way,” Ward said.

But Rebarick did not see it as a joke: “That’s going too far. That’s going over the line.”

“You’ve also been married for a million years,” Rebarick continued. “You don’t know what it’s like to be with men nowadays. It’s horrifying.”

“That’s true,” Ward said.

Rebarick, however, seemed inclined to give Ansari the benefit of the doubt.

“It’s that messed-up part of your brain that you do not want to believe that about someone you like so much,” Rebarick said.

The set was, as billed, unpolished, and Ansari occasionally referred to his notes onstage. He was his familiar, high-energy, frenetic self, frequently shifting pitches in his voice and playing different characters. Amid jokes about music he was too old to understand and interracial dating, he did not address the accusations. He did, however, discuss his frustration with social media “mobs” and “wokeness” — that too many people look to get outraged to show how progressive they are.

“A YouTube video can convince you of anything,” he said.

After a bit on birth control, Ansari left the stage to applause from a supportive crowd, including Rebarick.

“I was hoping something would be addressed, you know?” she said. “It wasn’t, but it was funny.”