Lewis Black publicity photo

Comedy Central

It seems only fitting that Lewis Black - a comedian who regularly appears on “The Daily Show” and had a sold-out show at the Michigan Theater on Saturday night - responds to audience members who convey spontaneous enthusiasm for something as he might a heckler.

For the Grammy-winning comic’s stage persona is that of a self-loathing, angry, expletive-spewing misanthrope who sees nothing but absurdity in the world around him.

So it was hardly surprising when, during Saturday night's show, Black scolded a handful of audience members who cheered and clapped as he discussed his switch from an iPhone to a Droid.

“I’ve spent a good bit of time in Ann Arbor," Black said in response, after pretending to end the set prematurely. "My brother actually went to the University of Michigan. … One of the things I thought before I came on stage was that there was no way that when I said the word ‘Droid,’ members of the audience would … applaud. Those of you who did, don’t you ever, ever applaud an inanimate object.”

And when Black talked about no longer doing any drugs, except drinking, the sound of a single person clapping inspired the comic to say, “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

But the evening began with Michigan native comic John Bowman offering a satisfying 30 minute opening set, covering topics like casinos, over-hyped weather “events,” and state rivalries. (Regarding Michigan’s relationship to Ohio, Bowman said, “We think about you one day a year. The rest of the time, we essentially think of you as Indiana looking at itself in the mirror.”)

Black, dressed in a gray suit, didn’t appear on stage for his 90 minute set until shortly after 9 p.m., and he kicked things off with a disclaimer.

“A lot of what I say isn’t funny,” said Black. “And yet, people … laugh. … And I guarantee you, if I say something that upsets you, there is something else that I will say later on that will make what I said before seem like nothing.”

Throughout the set, Black expressed bafflement and anger toward: Valentine’s Day; politicians’ responses to terrorist threats; smartphones and apps; aging, and lies surrounding aging; how we’ll always have, and hear, the exact same arguments about hot button topics; and the absurdity of online pursuits, like Farmville.

Often, Black’s jokes rely upon his distinctive, hyper-cynical delivery and his use of profanity, neither of which can be conveyed here. Nonetheless, check out a handful of (edited for language) quotes from Black’s set:

* “If you’re a still a Democrat, or you’re still a Republican, that’s just so sweet. Do you hold on to everything you made in first grade, too? Is it all in a storage unit?”

* “Our leaders have been incapable of getting a list of names of all the terrorists to all the airports of the world, though they’ve had 9 years. During those 9 years, they’ve made my phone capable of receiving TV show times. But somehow we couldn’t get this list out. ‘It’s so hard. We ran out of mimeo paper.’”

* “When you reach that point in your life when you’re asking an inanimate object (a smartphone) where the best raw fish is, that’s (messed) up. … You’re standing on the street, talking to your … phone, and people who live in the neighborhood are walking all around you.”

* “I went to the Apple store. Now, for those of you who wonder what life is like on another planet, you’re going to want to go. They are not of us.”

* “When I was a kid, you were either pro-abortion or anti-abortion. … Now, at age 62, people are either pro-choice or pro-life. This is what we’ve accomplished during my lifetime. Good for us.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.