Chris Rock grows up, as does his comedy

Can it be true? Is the brash, feral, foul-mouthed boy wonder of comedy Chris Rock really 50?

Actually, he's 52. Formerly wild and unpredictable, he's now showing hints of something that once seemed completely incongruous: maturity.

Now, after years of random jokes on culture and society, he has launched a deeply personal show that delves into Louis C.K. territory.

Rock started popping up in movies in his early 20s, and made it big as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member in 1990, when he was 25.

But even before that, he had honed his skills as a club comic, starting out in stand-up in his late teens.

He hasn't made any movies lately. Though he hosted the 2016 Oscars, the once-ubiquitous Rock now is mainly seen on TV reruns — “SNL,” “The Chris Rock Show,” “Everybody Hates Chris.”

Which brings Rock back to his live performances. His “Total Blackout Tour,” his first national tour in almost a decade, is headed to Pittsburgh this week.

Why the live shows, after all those years? “That's what alimony does to you,” he cracked at a New York show that launched his tour.

A New York Times reviewer was struck, not by the alimony joke, but by what followed: “While his quip had the jackhammer snap that has long made him the best deliverer of punch lines in comedy, the old swagger faded during his hour-and-a-half show.”

Indeed, this is something of a confessional show, with Rock confiding to the audience, “I was a bad husband.”

Some people mellow with age. And then there's Chris Rock.

Long before Donald Trump said something very similar, Rock was mocking John McCain as “a war hero who got captured.”

At last year's Oscars, he stunned many by calling out Hollywood as racist.

On his current tour, with his usual twist on race-in-America, Rock ponders if the police should occasionally shoot a white kid, “just for appearances.”

Rock raised eyebrows a few weeks ago when he canceled shows in Phoenix because of an illness. But he continued the tour, and his near-sellout Pittsburgh shows look like they will happen.

Two things, if you're planning on seeing Rock in Pittsburgh.

One, be ready to lock up your cell phone when you enter. As chrisrock.com stresses, “No cellphones, cameras or recording devices will be allowed at Chris Rock's Total Blackout Tour. Upon arrival, all phones and smartwatches will be secured in Yondr pouches that will be unlocked at the end of the show.” (Though you can keep your phone, if you don't have it in one of those hi-tech safes, you may be ejected.)

Two, be prepared to squirm in your seat, for some very uncomfortable moments. Noting that in the past, Rock hadn't talked much about his private life, the New York Times reviewer wrote, “... it's a surprise to see him tell jokes about the dark consequences of his addiction to pornography or the excruciating details of family court. This is not his funniest show, but it might be his most compelling, a departure even in its form.”

Then again, Rock can still drop some serious one-liners.

Like when he talks about how O.J. Simpson had to pay big-time alimony to his ex-wife, who was with another man.

“I'm not saying he should have killed her, but I understand.”

Tom Scanlon is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.