Pete Davidson gives SF reluctant praise at set

“No more pot, no more shrooms, no more drinking, no more cigs, everything – it sucks… the days are so long and everything sucks,” said Pete Davidson during an interview after a rehab stint in 2017. 

It’s been nearly seven years since that soundbite, during which time Davidson has become comedy’s most unlikely heartthrob, and he has continued to struggle with addiction. Performing on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, Davidson was sober following another rehab treatment, and yet again, he didn’t seem thrilled about it.

“Fresh out of rehab, seventh time’s the charm,” announced Davidson at the start of the show.

Much of the set focused on bigger questions around sobriety. What happens when you get clean and you’re still depressed? When you still have a chronic illness? (Davidson suffers from Crohn’s disease.) And when your mom’s still widowed and lonely? 

Davidson tried to answer these questions at the Masonic, but one got the sense he isn’t convinced he’s chosen the right path. He’s not proud that he attended Aretha Franklin’s funeral high on ketamine, but also didn’t seem overjoyed to be sober, and was clearly less than thrilled with his onstage execution.

“I’m always mid,” said Davidson after flubbing a line. He mixed up a couple of his stories throughout the show and had to stop to read from his notes three times. While he was a little down on his performance, he was pleasantly surprised with San Francisco. 

“It’s not that bad out here,” he said in reference to San Francisco’s well publicized image problem. “There’s still the Full House house, the Mrs. Doubtfire house, it’s not that bad.”

But in another bit of self-loathing, Davidson noted his disdain for meeting sick children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. “Their dying wish is to meet me, this kid has no hope,” Davidson said.

Even when he’s self-pitying, Davidson radiates Staten Island charm. He’s very funny onstage but you get the sense that he’s even funnier with his buddies watching cartoons in his basement.

Davidson barely talked about his well- publicized love life, which has made him at least as famous, if not more, as his comedy. Despite several high profile breakups, he claimed that his low point came not when he lost a lover, but when he lost a stalker.

“The difference between a stalker and not, is [whether they’re] hot,” he said unsparingly. He mentioned he wasn’t afraid of his stalker because she wasn’t attractive. 

“Ugly girls don’t make bombs, they eat cookies and cut themselves,” Davidson said in his meanest line of the night. He insinuated that he could make the joke because he, too, has used cutting as a form of self harm. 

While the stalker story was pitch black in tone, it led to one of the funniest moments of the show. Because of the ordeal, Davidson had to hire a bodyguard. But the bodyguard was used to working with rappers, not comedians with teenaged fanbases.

During a trip to the mall, Davidson found himself being live streamed by a group of middle school admirers. He had to quickly intervene when his bodyguard wanted to break the middle schoolers’ phones. 

The only direct mention Davidson made of his tabloid romances was a bit about a TMZ story that showed a faked inappropriate photo. Davidson said he was torn about whether he wanted the picture taken down, because he wasn’t as well-endowed as the man in the photo. At another point, Davidson spoke about having no-strings-attached sex before he was famous. 

“They sure don’t make them like that anymore,” said a deadpanned Davidson to the audience, which carried extra weight coming from the former lover of Ariana Grande, Emily Ratajkowski and Kim Kardashian.

“This show is mid, but I like it,” he said again with a chuckle before signing off. 

As he started heading for the wings, someone tossed a stuffed animal onstage.

“Oh, so cute!” Davidson said, who caught the stuffed animal and took it with him offstage, perhaps saving it for his next famous girlfriend.