David Cross had a few ideas on how to make America great again, and many examples of ways in which the country was, and currently is, factually not great. The audience sat with jaws dropped during Cross’ presentation of the numerous examples, simultaneously awful and awesome, that backed up his argument.

Cross’ show “Making America Great Again!” took the spotlight Monday at the Orpheum Theater. The show started lightheartedly, with jokes about poorly placed luggage stores, a ridiculous Californian tattoo parlor, the horrors of Florida and intra-familial fights. These topics warmed up the crowd for the main brunt of the show: a brutal roast on the current state of the United States.

On the political side, the show covered right-wing politics, the presidential candidates and the National Rifle Association. On a religious note, Cross discussed the Vatican, the Pope and concerns with other Abrahamic religions. These ideas mingled and intersected in creative, colorfully vivid ways for a show that ended early for some in the crowd.

David Cross is an incredibly clever comedian. Many of the big laughs came from a well-placed pause, Cross either waiting to arrive at the punchline or allowing the full resonance of a joke to sink in. In many cases, the audience already knew what the end of the joke was going to be, and sharing the mutual knowledge with Cross added a different dimension of the show to enjoy.

Due to the subject matter of Cross’ show, the crowd’s reaction wasn’t always big, sidesplitting laughs and applause; those came more from the I-can’t-believe-he-just-said-that type of tension created in Cross’ set. As the house lights came up at the end of the show, however, it was clear some had left the theater. The exact circumstances for this small (yet noticeable) change in headcount aren’t entirely identifiable, but it wasn’t hard to comprehend how many of Cross’ conceits could be read as inflammatory or disturbingly honest.

The real reason David Cross’ “Making America Great Again!” tour is so fantastic is the insightful and enlightening reasoning at its core. Cross took current events and twisted their logic to turn them into situations that forced the audience to contemplate the tragic humor of today’s society. That’s not just great political or social comedy, it’s a great lesson, one in which David Cross successfully and hysterically delivered.