Chris Vognar

GRAND PRAIRIE – Chris Rock has long enjoyed setting up shop at the intersection of race, sex and politics, so you know this election year is his dream come true. Prowling the stage Thursday night at a near-capacity Nokia Theatre, Mr. Rock tore into matters Clinton and Obama, McCain and Bush. He remains a man who doesn't have to be encouraged to speak openly about black and white.

REX C. CURRY/Special to DMN

"Did I hit a nerve?" he asked on more than one occasion, and if he didn't it wasn't for lack of trying. He likes the idea of a woman for president. "But does it have to be that woman?"

Then there's Barack Obama's name, so black that you expect to see him come out with a spear, or playing saxophone for the Commodores. McCain's age? "I don't need no president with a bucket list." Texans who have stayed behind Bush? "Hey, I love the Knicks, but I know they suck."

Sporting a turquoise suit, masterfully punching a word here and there for emphasis, Mr. Rock combined polish with spontaneity in that charismatic delivery that lets him get away with joking about pretty much anything he wants. Sure, Barry Bonds was juicing, but Babe Ruth never played against black or Latino players. Home-run king? "He hit 714 affirmative-action home runs," sayeth Mr. Rock, a feat comparable to winning a marathon in which no Kenyan runners participate.

Can he say that? Yes, and then he can riff on why certain people can get away with saying certain things. Short people can talk about tall people. Poor people can talk about rich people. Mr. Rock openly admitted how upset he'd be if the powers that be took away the N-word. He then offered an extreme hypothetical example of the one instance in which white folks can utter it, incorporating a show-stopping pantomime of tap-dancing assault and battery.

Steve Martin once told us comedy isn't pretty. Mr. Rock thrives on reminding us that when it's funny, it usually stings.