Comedy News

Rising star comedian Ralph Barbosa sells out 6 Dallas shows for Netflix special

Dallas comedian Ralph Barbosa

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A Dallas comedian who's a rising star has landed his own NetFlix special: Ralph Barbosa, whose laid-back yet hilarious style has won him multiple awards and national TV appearances, is playing six sold-out shows this week at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff, where the special is being filmed.

The first two shows were on August 2, and the run ends on August 4.

Barbosa was the 2019 winner of the Funniest Comic in Texas competition, and the 2021 winner of the New York Latino Film Festival Stand-Up. His shows sell out at comedy clubs across the U.S.

His "Don’t Tell Comedy" set on YouTube, showcasing his delightfully droll delivery, has surpassed 4.4 million views. He's appeared on Comedy Central, HBO (HBO Max’s special "Entre Nos: The Winners 3," directed by Latina comic Aida Rodriguez), and made his late-night debut on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon in January 2023.

"Young Texas boy made it to the Tonight show," he posted on Instagram with a photo of himself on stage, and in June, he opened for Dave Chappelle at American Airlines Center.

(He also got an unintentional boost thanks to comedian George Lopez, who inadvertently helped elevate his profile further in February by stating on a podcast that no one had heard of him — a comment for which Lopez has since apologized.)

Barbosa, who graduated from Mesquite High School and currently resides in Oak Cliff, deliberately chose the Kessler as the site for the Netflix taping.

Kessler Theater artistic director and talent buyer Jeff Liles describes Barbosa as "awesome, really different. Not a typical set-up/punchline guy."

"Ralph was a barber at the shop right across the street from the theater," Liles says. "When he got the deal to do the Netflix special, he wanted to do it here in his neighborhood. He has even done a couple of pop-up shows at the barber shop."

Kessler booking agent Curtis McCary originally slotted Barbosa in for two nights, but had to keep adding more shows, because all the shows kept selling out.

"When his tickets went on sale for this Netflix night, both shows sold out in less than an hour," Liles says. "Then we added another two shows the night before, and they both sold quick, too. So we added two more the night before that, and they also sold out in an hour, too."

Liles says they've never seen anything like it, and it's not like the Kessler has not hosted comedy shows.

"It's actually a great room for comedy," Liles says. "In the past we’ve done shows with Sandra Bernhard, Tig Notaro, Pete Holmes, the Broad City girls, Amy Sedaris, John Waters, Elayne Boosler, Harland Williams, Paul Varghese and Linda Stogner."

"But in 13 years, no performer has ever sold out six shows in a row here. It's insane," he says.

NetFlix has a big commitment to comedy including a series dedicated to Latin stand-up comedy. When they film a special, they typically film a few nights at the same venue so they can choose the best reaction shots.

A few words from Ralph Barbosa on social media:

"I'm not very big on the whole social media thing. People don't do strange things on there often, but sometimes they get a little too social and I'm out. I'll pull the plug on Instagram. And it'll be normal stuff, but it'll just be a little too weird for me. Like this guy messages me and says, 'Hey man I saw you posted some pizza and I wanted to ask you where'd you get that pizza at.' I didn't say anything right away, so he sent a follow-up message. He was like, 'Hey man, I hope you're not planning on ignoring me.' I was like, 'I wasn't, but ...now that you sent the creepiest message, I'm deleting my Instagram.'"

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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