The comedian who once called a special “Never Scared” doesn’t carry himself like someone afraid. Chris Rock still jokes freely and provocatively about such touchy subjects as abortion, race and, in one unfortunate case, Jada Pinkett Smith.
But as he said Thursday in the first of four shows at the Chicago Theatre, “I gotta watch what I say!” Cancellation is an ever-present threat for every comedian, no matter how revered. And that anxiety extends to the lobby, where patrons have to pass through a metal detector and put their phones in pouches in order to see the ostensibly fearless funnyman.
