Chad Daniels: As Is (2012)

Chad Daniels has finally done it. He's assembled an entire supergroup just to bring you, finally, his own glorious visage in stunning technicolor. The Glinting Grin, the Quizzical Pause, the Cat-Who-Swallowed-the-Canary, Daniels has every move since Blue Steel down pat, and he's unleashed it upon the world! Even better: this proud graduate of the Handsome Boy Modeling School has the wit to back up his good looks. After an opening intro meant to charm anyone who's ever been charmed by Minneapolis, Daniels leaps through a classic assortment of his material, making a connection with his audience and displaying an ease uncommon in an era of blustery tirades. Instead, an evening with Chad Daniels is like an evening with your best friends (and maybe some Jack Daniel's, too). From getting aggro at the Detroit airport to bonding over racist grandmas and dreaming up new Kardashian family mottos, each turn of phrase is expert, each punchline timed to perfection. Daniels enumerates the citizenship challenges keeping us from assembling an All-Star Team of Americans, how to hold a press conference for your children and have a sex talk with a teen (first rule: you don't get to be offended by his bodily fluids if you used to be one), and presents one way to get yourself nearly arrested and one way to bring a comedy show to a screeching halt. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who predicted the 2012 election better than Nate Silver could possibly dream, it's Chad Daniels, "As Is."