Rob's Recs: Have a slice of the 'You're too old for Leo' birthday cake

Plus, Panchromatic Steel, Nate Bargatze, Jacqueline Novak and more.

Last Tuesday was a big milestone in our family, as my oldest daughter turned 20. She’s officially no longer a teenager! 

But while it was a big deal for her, it was an even bigger deal for someone else – Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio. As the tabloids often point out, the “Killers of the Flower Moon” star, who will turn 50 this year, has a habit of dating women who are . . . not 50. 

So, to commemorate the fact that my daughter has aged out of the Leo bracket, my youngest daughter decorated a very special kind of birthday cake. I thought it was very funny and thought I would share the photo.

Sorry to rub it in, Leo. The cake was delicious, by the way.

Rob’s Recs:

Nate Bargatze’s “Be Funny” comedy tour – I usually take a dim view when people complain that their favorite entertainers get too famous. And given that I only got into the Tennessee comedian about five years ago when he was at the theater level, I have no business complaining that he’s now successful enough to be on an arena tour, including at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison last week.

But as Bargatze has grown in popularity, he does seem to be attracting a sort of “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” demographic, I guess because he’s from the South and his comedy is clean and apolitical. I base this observation solely on the guy driving the mammoth white truck with the buck hunting novelty license plate who deliberately and gleefully cut me off while I was trying to exit the parking lot after the show. Apparently taking turns merging is too communist.

Anyway, Bargatze is still very funny, and his relaxed, offhand delivery and relatively safe material (being a dumb guy, being middle-aged, being a middle-aged dumb guy) sometimes obscures how sharply crafted his jokes are. I particularly liked his observation that today’s middle-aged people have lived a lifetime that spans both worrying about AI and seeing a donkey jump off a high dive at a county fair. (“I use the word jump very loosely.”)

Jacqueline Novak, “Get On Your Knees” – Speaking of standup, I really enjoyed Novak’s new Netflix special, which is really a 90-minute one-woman show surrounding her experiences involving one particular sex act. While it might sound raunchy, it’s actually a bravura performance piece that’s packed with funny and thoughtful observations about identity, hilariously deconstructing the language of sex. She prowls the stage relentlessly, speaking with the breathless swagger of an overprepared honors student, and the whole thing (directed by Natasha Lyonne) feels exuberant and joyful.

Today is Fat Tuesday, and the music of Mardi Gras is usually associated with the second lines of New Orleans. But I had a great time interviewing the Madison steel drum band Panchromatic Steel about their upcoming show with Mama Digdown’s Brass Band in Madison, and how Wisconsin has become an unlikely home for a band that specializes in Caribbean steel, including covers of Radiohead songs.

I also interviewed the filmmaker Justin Johnson, aka Justinsuperstar, about his documentary “Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory.” It’s a name that’s not easily forgotten, which is by design. But it’s also accurate, as Johnson films his Eau Claire parents and the unlikely at-home business they developed making prosthetic nipples for breast cancer survivors. 

I think what will especially resonate for viewers is the underlying story about Johnson, who rebelled against his conservative religious family and tried to become the black sheep of the clan, only to reconcile through the making of the film. “Your parents are a non-renewable resource.”

It’s almost touching that the producers of Super Bowl commercials think that we’ll be excited by the appearance of a celebrity in an ad. (Guys, we see them all the time! We have the internet.) But, almost against my will, I did enjoy the “DunKings” ad featuring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Tom Brady, but mostly because of Matt Damon’s rueful asides (“Sometimes it’s really hard to be your friend.”)