David Cross’ comedy act is not a universal crowd pleaser. Cross employs bizarre antics and exposes his raw opinions onstage in a manner that has caused critics to compare him to Andy Kaufman.

These comparisons are well deserved because just as was the case with Kaufman, audiences either hate Cross or think he’s one of the wittiest men alive.

The crowd was divided last Saturday night at the Busch Memorial Center when Cross addressed touchy issues in his pointedly politically incorrect stand-up comedy routine.

Cross’ comments about society were embedded within shocking tales that held nothing sacred except freedom of expression.

His technique was occasionally hilarious but consistently disturbing. One third of the huge crowd of Saint Louis University students was too appalled by Cross’ tactics to bother sticking around to decipher his message.

Instead they rushed to the exits at what Cross referred to as the “first couple blasphemous references.”

Cross said after the show that he didn’t know SLU was a Jesuit university until an hour before the show started.

Cross doesn’t put forth an antagonistic air during regular conversation. A normal looking guy with thick glasses and clothes befitting of a 17-year-old. Onstage, however, he was, persistent in presenting the material he had prepared for the show.

“I apologize to the people who stayed, who were great, it just threw off my rhythm … I was editing as I would go along, I’d do a joke and think `well I can’t do that next part.'”

Cross opened his act by coming out disguised as a bearded protest singer from Boulder, Col. His weird use of a musical instrument and his wandering lyrics were reminiscent of Kaufman’s antics onstage. The crowd seemed confused when Cross removed his beard and continued on with his act.

Within the first 20 minutes of his act, the audience learned that Cross’ opinions about the Christianity were-at the very least-cynical, and at their extreme, the epitome of blaspheme.

Rape, the Virgin Mary and the mentally handicapped were not to be spared in Cross’ graphic depictions, and audience members drew the line and left during different points throughout the show. Cross didn’t ignore these departures. He commented on them and incorporated the walk-out phenomenon into his act.

When asked what he thought about the walkout, Cross said “While I’m onstage that’s no time for a lenghty debate. I do wish they would have stayed though, just so that I could have talked to them. There was one guy who stayed for the whole thing who was upset and offended by what I said and we just talked for about 10 minutes after the show and he was able to show me his point and I was able to show him my point of view-beyond the joke, beyond the thing that’s supposed to make to you laugh. I was able to explain my thought behind it.”

Cross was relatively successful in his performance.

Those who stayed to watch would have loved Cross’ performance no matter where he appeared. Those who left wouldn’t have loved him even if he had toned it down slightly. It was better that Cross was true to himself and his art-mediocrity pleases no one.