David Cross: DVD+CD Bigger and Blackerer Coming Soon

Hitting stores or elsewhere May 25, 2010, "Bigger and Blackerer" is the latest effort-- and third proper album-- from the very recognizable and even more funny David Cross. It's coming from Sub Pop Records, like his previous recordings.

Brian Posehn's "Fart & Weiner Jokes" Out on April 27

Brian Posehn's next album, Fart & Weiner Jokes, is up for pre-order on Relapse Records right now. It's $12 or available in bundles with his first album or one of two t-shirts. Since Posehn is a funny dude, odds are you'll want to go ahead and order this.

Also, big points for making a nice retro metal album cover. We can't wait to hear it!

PSA: Neil Hamburger's "Hot February Night" Available Again

If you missed the greatest comedy album we've heard in years, Neil Hamburger's Hot February Night, then we have some good news for you. The comic's web store has the disc up for sale for a mere $10, and let us assure you, it is worth it. Click here to check availability and click here for our review. This is not a paid plug, we just loves us this album.

Road Trip Album Picks: "R.O. Magic: The Best of R.O. Manse"

WHAT: Comedy album with music and sketches
LABEL: A Special Thing Records, 2008
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: 80s music, novelty albums, fighting
WHERE TO FIND IT: Online or bust
LENGTH: 63 minutes

The novelty record is experiencing something of a revival. Every few years "Weird Al" Yankovic puts out something new that burns up the charts, and the Conchords had a great run on TV. Rather than go with parodies, R.O. Manse has some sketches, some faux interviews, some songs, and more to make what basically amounts to a pretty great CD of character development. We learn who this guy is, we hear some highlights from his career, we meet his ex-wife... this is a fleshed-out guy.

With numerous special guests and all sorts of gags, this album is pretty all over the place. With 26 tracks spanning a variety of styles, there are a surprising number of great gags here-- the suite of 1980s movie theme songs, for example, are pretty fantastic. The album has a couple of songs which qualify as "hit singles" of sorts, awesome little ditties that work really well outside the context of the album. "Ladyboy" and "I Have a Synthesizer" are clearly the two shining stars of the album, were you to play them for a friend, the former of which is a surprisingly catchy song that-- unlike many novelty songs-- manages to play it straight. (As it were.)

If you can pick up a few tracks odds are you'll enjoy this-- it's a few steps beyond the recordings from various tunesmiths you'd here on Dr. Demento, and while pretty goofy, tracks like "Ladyboy" take comedy songwriting in a direction where it's funny without being overtly jokey-- that's quite a challenge. Well done! Pick this up if you're looking for comedy mixed with 1980s synthesized new wave songs, because it manages to pull it off nicely.

Road Trip Album Picks: Bill Cosby's "Revenge"

WHAT: Cosby's fifth comedy album
LABEL: Warner Bros. Records, 1967
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Bill Cosby
WHERE TO FIND IT: Your local library, some record stores
LENGTH: 42 minutes

If you're roughly 30 years old, odds are your parents raised you in a home with albums from Bill Cosby. My dad had several, but I didn't hear Revenge until just last month. It's a little looser than some of his other stuff and much more personal in the sense that it's about his person rather than Noah's Ark or bad drivers. Tales include "Revenge," a classic bit about saving a snowball for summer, and "Buck, Buck" which is seemingly the genesis of another famous character, namely Fat Albert.

In this disc you'll get all sorts of tales, and it's a little slower-- and naturally, significantly cleaner-- than the sort of things we usually cover in this column. Cosby, like Steve Martin or George Carlin, is one of the few comedians that works on some higher ethereal plane and his older albums, like this one, were a big part of the wave of fame he continues to ride to this very day. Sure, he's done great new stuff since then, but these things were bought and kept in homes in the pre-VCR era when records were the only way to play back your favorite people and shows for most people.

Cosby's voice carries well and it's a pretty great release overall. There's clearly a missing visual component which rears its head when you hear some of the laughter on the album, which was recorded at Harrah's nearly a million years ago ago, but it's worth hearing. It's worth picking up a Cosby album or two to see how the form evolved over the past half-century. A lot of things have changed, but the funniest stuff tends to resonate the longest.

Road Trip Album Picks: Mike Birbiglia's "Two Drink Mike"

WHAT: The second album from the comedian and This American Life contributor
LABEL: Comedy Central Records, 2006
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Likeable, awkward funny dudes
WHERE TO FIND IT: iTunes, Amazon, some record shops
LENGTH: 60 minutes

You may know Mike Birbiglia from his many comedy specials or from his numerous appearances on PRI's This American Life, often discussing his terrifying bout with sleepwalking. Which involves window-jumping and bleeding unintentionally. This resulted in a one-man show called "Sleepwalk With Me", where he relates his horrifying medical condition for your amusement. This is a man who truly knows how to make art out of misery and do a great job.

Birbiglia's persona on Two Drink Mike is that of a likeable, somewhat troubled guy. His comedy is mostly completely clean, going so far as to bleep a couple of curses on his albums over the years. (This is a stark contrast to, say, the entire recorded comedy album industry.)

Most of the stuff we review here is comedy for generally die-hard comedy fans, and Birbiglia is comedy for die-hard comedy fans and their parents. It's not easy to make a totally clean album with both jokes about rape and how much fun you become after a lot of drinks, but this is it.

It almost sounds like a slam to call the album nice or good-natured, but it really is both funny and very inoffensive. There's a routine on the phrase "No, But I Heard About It" that tells you everything you need to know about this comic, which is that he's funny and wants to be liked. You can totally hand this to mom and/or dad as the anti-Jeff Dunham and odds are they'll really enjoy it, and you don't have to hang your head in shame if you're not into comedians with acts that come on sticks. (No offense if you're a Dunham fan. Well, maybe a little offense.)

The album provides an ideal driving companion, as Birbiglia's voice carries despite not exactly being the highest-energy guy. You'll laugh a lot, most likely, so give this one a whirl over the coming Thanksgiving holiday. It should make the travel go down slightly easier.

A note if you're looking to buy this: it's on CD, and on multiple digital formats. Amazon sells an "Audible" version for $12 and a standard MP3 version for $10. It's the same thing, so buyer be aware!

Road Trip Halloween Party Album Picks: "Eban Schletter's Witching Hour"

WHAT: Spooky music from the guy who did a lot of Mr. Show's score with some funny lyrics, but largely instrumental
NOTABLE GUESTS: Jill Sobule, Dave Allen, Paul F. Tompkins, Dave Foley, Scott Aukerman, Tom Kenny, Samm Levine
LABEL: Oglio Records, 2008
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Mr. Show's soundtrack and/or Halloween CDs
WHERE TO FIND IT: Some record stores, Best Buy has it for $7.99
LENGTH: 1 hour, 32 seconds

If you listen to the Comedy Death Ray Radio show/podcast, you no doubt recently heard a spot promoting Eban Schletter's Witching Hour with Paul F. Tompkins. As I'm a sucker for PFT and anything he touches, I had to go track this one down. So who is this guy? It turns out that Eban Schletter is not some spooky character like the Cryptkeeper or Colonel Sanders, but is in fact an actual person responsible for composing numerous soundtracks.

This is something to throw on at parties or, if you were a bit of a dork for this sort of thing, a decent enough listen. Most of the songs fade into the background nicely and seem to borrow from cartoon soundtracks and surf music, which is where you want to be. It's not like the Cryptkeeper Christmas CD in the sense that this isn't likely to ever make it on any torture tape mixes-- it's just decent and for the most part, pleasant enough to add some noise to an otherwise quiet evening. A spooky story by Dave Foley is indeed delightfully spooky, and the songs range from mostly somber to a more upbeat number with Scott Aukerman. In short, nothing to be ashamed of.

If you're looking for a collection of goofy novelty songs this isn't it. If you keep the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack or Haunted House sound CDs on a loop this time of year at get-togethers, this is probably a better alternative.

...so to answer your question, no, this isn't good for road trips.

Road Trip Album Picks: "NPR Funniest Driveway Moments"

WHAT: Collection of interviews with comedians and amusing interviews from NPR
LABEL: HighBridge Company, 2008
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: NPR, but don't listen to it much, and comedy new or old
WHERE TO FIND IT: Your library, book stores, online
LENGTH: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Depending on your entertainment affiliations, you may listen to either a massive amount of NPR or none at all. As I listen to a lot, much of NPR Funniest Driveway Moments had already graced my iPod through podcasts of shows like Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and others. If you permanently have your tuner set to your local NPR affiliate, odds are you've heard many of these, and the bulk of the collection is pretty timely. Some of these segments were older, some are newer, and there's a really good mix of the new generation of comedians with some of the older ones, plus a segment with Richard Pryor that sort of sticks out because he's not really involved as such. Also sticking out is a bit with Justice Stephen Breyer, who is not a comedian so much as a member of the judiciary. It's not so much a comedy thing, it certainly qualifies as amusing but it also doesn't fit here particularly well.

Since this is a collection of radio broadcasts with new segments introducing them, what you have here is essentially a perfect driving companion for fans of comedy. It isn't always funny so much as it is informative, but there's quite a bit to enjoy here if you're already a fan of the personalities on the discs, like Demetri Martin or Phyllis Diller or Sarah Silverman. Or Dame Edna. (Which we are not.) If you already have it in for these people, clearly, skip that segment-- but the whole collection is great. It's a delight to hear Steve Martin's early stories about making two cents at Disneyland, or how Mel Brooks used to play music with comedians before getting involved with Your Show of Shows.

Unlike most things I post here, this is one of very few family-friendly collections in the sense that if you're reading this, odds are you could pass it along to your parents and they probably wouldn't have a problem with it unless Lily Tomlin really pissed them off for some reason. Besides, they're going to need an introduction to Larry David, and this collection has all that and more. Heck, it's worth hearing just to hear another interview with LD, so be sure to track this one down for your next road trip. Just do it soon as it's starting to feel a little dated as some comedians go on to new things or, in some cases, retire from the business.

Road Trip Album Picks: Neil Hamburger's "Hot February Night"

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Road Trip Album Picks: David Cross' "I Drink For a Reason" Audiobook CD

WHAT: Book read by the author, with special guests
LABEL: Hachette Audio, 2009
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Comedy, David Cross' stand-up albums
WHERE TO FIND IT: Better book stores
LENGTH: 6.4 hours (6 CDs)

If you're too rude and lazy to read, or if you just really like spoken-word comedy releases, you should be glad that David Cross released "I Drink For a Reason" as a CD set as well as a printed book. If 6 hours of Cross seems like too much, he brings in special guests including Jon Benjamin, Kristin Schaal, and the band Les Savy Fav.

For you road-trippers, this is a fantastic driving companion. Each chapter is read with the tone you expect from the comic's stand-up albums, except it's missing the audience. Cross also constantly berates the listener for not having purchased the actual book version, referring to the listener as lazy, selfish, and rude. We do not dispute these claims.

The album adapts the book with numerous changes to better reflect the medium, constantly reminding you that this or that would be better on the printed page, which really adds to the whole presentation. Cross informs the listener which page they might be on, adds audio footnotes, and reminds you that the world you live in is full of awfulness and will likely never, ever become a wonderful place. (Again, this is a comedy.)

Fans of Mr. Show with Bob and David and Cross' earlier stand-up will find this to be a special treasure, loaded with venom at book signings, bloggers, and those too lazy to read. At roughly $30, comedy fans should find this a bargain. Odds are listening through it in its entirety once may be enough, but given that it's six hours long you'll probably be fine with that. David Cross the comedian and David Cross the author are two very similar creatures-- if you liked his previous comedy CDs, or you're already one of the author's devoted fans, this is an easy purchase.

If we had any gripes about the release, it would be that it's almost overstuffed. Audiobooks tend to be quite long, and this one is like listening to eight or nine stand-up albums in a row. It may be too much for you, but if hearing about scrapbooking conventions in Novi, MI doesn't do it for you the content may not be what you're after anyway.

Cross fans: get it. Everyone else: get his other albums, become a Cross fan, and then get the book or this audio book. It's basically The David Cross Manifesto, but there's clearly a good market for this.

Road Trip Album Picks: Todd Glass' "Vintage Todd Glass and Other Crap"

WHAT: Collection of random material from a really funny comic/podcaster
LABEL: Self-published, mid-2000s
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Comedy and Everything Else podcast
WHERE TO FIND IT: Second-hand CD shops. At this time ToddGlass.com is out of stock of it and the site does not presently reflect this. (We asked.)

"Hi, this is Todd Glass, thanks for buying my CD. Fifteen bucks, what a ripoff." How's that for the start of track 1? With a name like Vintage Todd Glass and Other Crap, it sounds like you're going to be getting a grab bag of stand-up, novelty songs, and what seems to be a virtual resume of a future radio personality, or rather, a Podcaster. The album starts off basically berating you if you don't like the CD, and there's a little more of that as the album goes along. To have the product criticize the audience is certainly a fun twist.

Kicking off with a number of jokes recorded in clubs, it seems that the producers hand-picked various bits which went well and fade each one in and out as they go. It's very different from most comedy CDs, which tend to be a complete performance or are bits edited to be a full hour of comedy culled from one or two performances. The first several are great. Heck, most of it is pretty funny, as is Glass, but it's just so strange to see an album that includes a multiple course meal of comedy-- it goes from stand-up to jingles and songs.

Five tracks in the middle, which comprise a "Mad About Nothing" set, seem like they were cultivated as radio spots or something you send a club promoter as a sample of what Glass' style is like. They're great, but it seems odd to include on an album like this, which was originally sold by the comic via mail order/the web.

"If four out of five people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean one guy enjoys it?"

Glass' podcast, Comedy and Everything Else, is really the logical evolution of this album. While a skilled performer and funny guy, it's clear that this guy wants to make sure you're having a good time. As such, it's good he got to scratch that itch, because this doesn't seem like a CD that would be something for frequent listening so much as it is something you pull out on a road trip or hand to your friends if they ask you who Todd Glass is.

The track "Blackout Jokes" sums up the album well-- Glass goes on about how this is a stupid, silly album and if you haven't shut it off yet that's your problem. Bravo, sir. It seems that the only way to get this right now is to find someone to loan you their copy, or if you're willing to pay through the nose on Amazon ($30 and up at press time.) Good luck finding a copy-- if you can get one cheap ($10 or less), and you're already a fan of his material, this is definitely worth a listen.

Oh-- and the packaging is pretty funny, too. On the back he calls out numerous radio stations as it reads: "Special thanks to the following radio stations for their support and air play. Some have not even played the CD yet but once they see this they might eel like they have to." Brilliant.

My Weakness is Strong

My Weakness is Strong
Patton Oswalt
Warner Bros. and Degenerate Records
Released August 25, 2009

If you like Patton, you will like this album. Overall, the material is very solid, all new, nothing repeated from previous albums and a very fun listen.

Patton settles down a bit with this one, with his life actually toning down a bit. Not so much raw hatred. It has Patton growing up a bit with him discussing becoming a father and having to give up drugs, and doing a media tour for the Pixar film Ratatouille and having to give up his hatred to be civil to children who might interview him on the Disney Channel or show up at his door dressed as Remy for Halloween.

For longtime fans, there are still many are many dark roads traveled in his comedy, so don't worry about that being lacking. For example, Patton talks about and how he went off his Prozac because of his belief the world will devolve into the world of the Road Warrior in thirty years and he didn't want to end up suddenly hitting bottom and ending up not caring about being the bumper ornament for the head wastelander.

There are, as usual some hilariously-recalled stories told by Patton, such as the story of him, his wife and a Realtor coming to look at a house only to find the owner in the middle of an orgy and a story of doing stand-up opening for a magician who does his entire act hate-fucking the audience over the loss of five dollars.

Patton also muses as only he can, with a theory that religion was invented by someone like himself to dodge getting killed by a giant man with a club in ancient times. He also tells a hilarious bit about how much everything has changed in only the past ten years, and therefore time travel is cheaper.

The album comes in an efficient cardstock case with beautiful art by Ivan Brunetti (known for the award-winning Schitzo comic) and two sleeves, one for the DVD and one for the CD. It is one important advantage the physical album has over the digital download.

The CD and DVD contain exactly the same show. The DVD is filmed at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C. so if you want see the album and not just hear it, it is there for you. It is good to get some subtle visual comedy you would otherwise miss.

The DVD is also well-produced with disturbing animated art by Ivan Brunetti and piano music that sounds like Phillip Glass on horse tranquilizers. A nice step-up actually from a lot of comedy DVDs which in the past have looked like they were slapped together with iDVD.

The DVD also contains extras, such as a bad infomercial for the Patton Oswalt CD which contains cameos from such people as Paul F. Tompkins and Zach Galifianakis. There is also a strange series of parodies of Tommy Wiseau with Patton as Mr. Wiseau, hence the strange. There is an alternate opening to the comedy special which slams openings to comedy specials and a neat little photo slideshow with a series of pictures of items that remind you of jokes. It's hard to explain, but very neat.

So, this album is available pretty much everywhere right now at about $15 or less, so if you are a fan of Patton, you've probably already bought it.

Full outside cover:


Full inside cover:


DVD menu image:


Quite possibly the saddest DVD setup menu ever created:

Road Trip Album Picks: Mitch Hedberg's "Strategic Grill Locations"

WHAT: Debut stand-up album from the late comic
LABEL: Comedy Central Records (2002), self-published CD (1999)
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: More jokes
WHERE TO FIND IT: Better record stores

"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it."

Some albums lend themselves to road trips-- this is not one of them. Mitch's delivery on this, his first CD, is more reserved and mellow plus there's music from bass player Chuck Savage playing along with the jokes for some reason I don't quite get.

It's still obscenely funny and packed with one-liners like "I got an ant farm, them fellas don't grow shit" and "I got dressed up for the CD." That's just in the first track, the whole album is packed with 53 minutes of jokes. Considering there's a new one every few seconds, it shows just what an amazing talent this guy was.

This CD was actually quite difficult to get for a long time, and was still hard to find until after Hedberg passed away until around 2005.

It's much more subdued than his other two releases, and the overall quality of the sound seems a little on the cruddy side. The applause seems to be as loud or louder than Hedberg at times, which is of course not his fault. It just makes for difficult listening if the pavement sound is particularly high.

Road Trip Album Picks: Dave Attel's "Skanks for the Memories"

WHAT: Stand-up album from America's drinking buddy
LABEL: Comedy Central Records
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Dirty jokes, the Insomniac program from American television,
WHERE TO FIND IT: Most record stores

Do you admire such comic elements as subtlety and deft wordplay? This is not the album for you. Dave Attel's Skanks for the Memories is blue, but not so much "sad" blue as "dick joke" blue. "Waaaah, I want some pussy" pretty much sums up what you're going to get on this, his debut and seemingly only release.

You may have enjoyed Attel's show Insomniac or perhaps you saw him on his comedy special which helped give Dane Cook a little more TV time, but don't hold that against him. If you go down his track list, it seems like a what's-what of done-to-death comedy. Attel proves that just because you might say you're sick of jokes about airline security, midgets, the Amish, and Eskimos, it seems you are, in fact, not. "Give it to me, you Abe Lincoln-looking motherfucker." Classy.

If there's a more perfect album to throw on for some dude and his buddies on a road trip, I haven't heard it. If you missed out on it when it hit a few years ago, it's still genuinely funny. I listened to it on the drive home one day and kept cracking up, which is pretty much my benchmark for the funny. Will you laugh when you're alone? Then you've got something good.

Review: Doug Benson's Unbalanced Load

Funnyman: Doug Benson
Album: Unbalanced Load
Label: Comedy Central Records
Format: CD (retail), various (iTunes)
Length: 55:30 minutes
Available: August 4, 2009
Price: $10-$13, depending on format

After being released into relative obscurity, Benson follows up Professional Humoredian with a wider release, Unbalanced Load. It's funny, and you will laugh, unless you aren't much of a fan of the English language in which case I suggest you find a comic that speaks whatever it is that you are. I listened to Unbalanced Load and enjoyed it immensely, and I also subjected a car full of people to it a few days later and they all loved it-- and I should note, they are not this blog's target demo.

Doug's a rare creature in that the comedian always sounds like he's having a fantastic time during a performance. As such, you're going to have a great time, too. As a performer there's no limit to the joy he seems to be having while telling you about pot, The Dark Knight, and VH-1's consistent line-up of programming.

Longtime fans may recognize a lot of his jokes from recent television appearances, the Comedy Death Ray double CD compilation, and his other performances. (That shows you're paying attention, good for you.) Thankfully, there's a lot of stuff you most likely have never heard, including a delightful bit involving the Hoover Dam and the best knock-knock jokes you could ever hope for. The "Segues" track is also brilliant, the kind of thing the 10-year-old in you would probably want to listen to repeatedly, memorize, and perform for others. Some of the material-- recorded 4/20/2009, har har-- is already a smidge dated. For example VH-1's Best Week Ever has been canceled, but the bit surrounding it has less to do with the show itself and more to do with car accidents.

As always, we'll skip the spoilers and say that this is one of the funniest albums we've heard recently. It's been a great year for comedy releases, and this may be one of the best things released to stores so far in 2009. In particular, if you're a closet fan of VH-1's Celebreality programming block, a lover of movies in general, or a person curious to hear how a comic deals with hecklers who shout out things like "you're gay."

Other Notes
- Unlike many other Comedy Central Records releases, there is no DVD or bonus physical material. So get the MP3 or the CD.
- You may have heard a couple of the jokes before on the CDR album, but probably not. If you haven't heard the Comedy Death Ray comp, go ahead and get that one after you hear this one.
- There are bonus tracks
- If you want a free sample of Doug grab his podcast, I Love Movies
- The CD comes in a cardboard fold-open sleeve, not a jewel case
- If you're the kind of person who freaks out about language and adulty stuff, a) stop reading this blog and b) consider buying a much less funny comedy album, because this one is awesome

Road Trip Album Picks: Dr. Demento's 20th Anniversary Collection

WHAT: Collection of some of the best-known comedy and novelty songs of all time
LABEL: Rhino Records
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Dr. Demento, classic comedy, pop culture nuggets
WHERE TO FIND IT: Widely available at better record stores

The subtitle of this album is "The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time," which is a fair description for this double-disc collection. I've had this in my possession for years, and looking at it then, a lot of it wasn't too funny. On the other hand, some of it was pretty spectacular. The word "Records" is really telling, because pretty much everything here was released during the era of vinyl and this collection dates back to 1991, when CDs were just starting to really replace tapes and licorice pizzas.

"Novelty" is another key word, because a lot of this isn't particularly funny, just required listening for young pop culture fanatics. Regardless of your opinion of the cultural value of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you can't say that it isn't important to hear "The Time Warp" so you know what it is. The same can be said of "Surfin' Bird," which isn't a comedy track so much as it is something of a garage song that is, to say the least, likely to invite smiles.

Since some of the tracks date back over 50 years, odds are modern ears aren't going to take much delight in Spike Jones and his City Slickers or Ray Stevens due to a lack of context or the fact that they did not age well. On the other hand, the great "Weird Al" Yankovic, Frank Zappa, Tom Lehrer, and Steve Martin appear here, as does Shel Silverstein. Novelty nuggets like "Star Trekkin'" work great as a way to infuriate your fellow passengers, while "Fish Heads" may well be the greatest novelty record ever made. Take that as you will. "Monster Mash" and "Purple People Eater" can be found here too, making this the ultimate snapshot of the best the Dr. Demento radio program had to offer.

Poison tracks include:

• Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!
• Witch Doctor
• Junk Food Junkie
• The Battle of Kookamonga

There's little in the way of sketches here, but you'll find a lot of songs you or your parents found amusing at some point in their lives. "Beep Beep," "King Tut," and "Eat It" are all cultural treasures, but I can't guarantee that this two-hour collection of 36 tracks is going to bring a smile to your face unless you enjoy watching others suffer. And really, isn't that the half of the fun when it comes to road trips?

Oh, and I would also give this album my highest possible rating as a gift to any comedy-inclined tweens you may know. They will enjoy parts of it now, infuriate their friends and family with it, and outgrow it before they turn 25 so they can move on to better music and comedy. Really, you're doing them a huge favor.

Road Trip Album Picks: Doug Benson's "Professional Humoredian"

WHAT: Stand-up album from one of Twitter's favorite sons, host of the "I Love Movies" podcast, the dude from the movie Super High Me, and VH-1/G4 gadfly
LABEL: A Special Thing Records
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Laughing
WHERE TO FIND IT: Pretty much nowhere, so try iTunes or the label (mail order)

Here's an album from someone you'll probably love on a label that's so obscure you can keep your comedy snob cred even after someone else tells you about it. How's that for awesome?

Doug Benson is generally known as a pot comic which is actually pretty unfair. Sure, his star shot up thanks to the Marijuanalogues, a live show that's... well, you can figure it out. This is a great place to start following his career, particularly because he's a prolific guy. Between his podcast and TV specials, you might hear references to these jokes again and again. As such, starting here will probably make you feel better about buying this album, rather than recognizing bits of it from his many hours of free funny.

This album is absolutely worth listening to if you can find it. Benson's next release will be on Comedy Central Records, which means you might find it in stores unless they pull another digital-only release out of their backsides.

Road Trip Album Picks: John Mulaney's "The Top Part"

WHAT: Stand-up album from this guy you've never heard of
LABEL: Comedy Central Records
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Oswalt, Mirman, etc.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Anywhere-- Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, whatever

I stumbled on this one because the young John Mulaney appeared on a podcast I enjoy. Otherwise I'd never know who this guy was. He was promoting the CD and his Comedy Central special, which apparently was a wise move because I ran out and bought this on sight.

If you're like most people, you've never heard of Mulaney. I think his highest-profile TV appearances were the aforementioned Comedy Central Presents special or his short quips on the final Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins, but now you can be awesome by getting this CD and making others listen to it in the car when you go somewhere. The most amazing thing about this release is that it's not only hysterical, but it's clean. Not a lot of comedy albums see release without a "Parental Advisory" sticker unless it's on a tiny label which doesn't bother which such things.

Highlights include: "Blacking Out And Making Money," which really sets the tone of his style, and "The Salt And Pepper Diner," which is something you should have around if you want your girl/boy to love you for your taste in humor. Tom Jones on the jukebox + quarters = yes. It's hard to find something genuinely awesome in major retailers' comedy sections, but this is one of those diamonds in the rough. It's a hair over 48 minutes long and about $10, which is quite a deal.

Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome

Who: Maria Bamford
Label: Comedy Central Records
Released: April 21, 2009

This album contains less gems than Bamford's previous work. It's probably the weakest of her three albusms, but is still a good listen if you like her. If you have never listened to her, you might want to listen to her previous album, How To Win!

There are less personal stories from Maria in this one, less talking about the horrible temp jobs she's had or stories about the behavior of her parents, but there is still plenty of good stuff in it.

Highlights include her calling her Mom as the baby Jesus, doing a bit in which she plays a shallow stereotype of a mainstream female comic, and an act-out of a seminar on pug safety she attended in which horrible deaths of pugs are described.

It is recommended you purchase the physical copy of this album as it comes not only with a CD of the stand-up material, but a DVD containing all the episodes of the Maria Bamford Show as broadcast on Superchunk.com. If you haven't seen it, it is a simple low-budget show in which Maria plays all the characters except her pug, which is played by her pug.


Overall, it's a good album, funnier than most of the stuff out there, and comes with a DVD which is a good deal for the money.

An Extremely Slow Week for Funny

It’s the week of the 4th of July, which means very little actually happens anywhere, least of all in the world of comedy.

CD:

There isn’t anything out this week, but Weird Al Yankovic is hitting the promotional circuit pretty hard – he was on Web Soup on Sunday, and Comedy Death Ray Radio a week or so back, which means he has a new CD out soon (and by "soon" we mean "next year"), and it’ll probably be about things nerds like and recognize, so that means they’ll laugh at it. Perhaps there’ll be a polka about Digg.com?

DVD:

Eastbound & Down: Season 1

6 episodes of predictable comedy from Danny McBride, who is beloved by critics and lauded as The Next Big Comedy Thing for playing the same exact character in every single thing he’s ever been in. If you’ve ever wanted to see Danny McBride play a big arrogant stupid redneck slob who does gross, inappropriate things, now’s your chance! You can also see him playing this character in The Foot Fist Way, Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Observe & Report and Land of the Lost. Just in case you weren’t aware of what Danny McBride does.

The IT Crowd, Season 2

I haven’t seen this show but it’s supposed to be good, based on the reviews I’ve heard from everyone who seems to blindly love BBC comedy.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

The worst thing in the world is when a shitty movie comes out and your friends tell you “it’s so bad it’s good!” and it winds up just being shitty and boring and not funny at all. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li is actually so horrible and misbegotten that it’s absolutely hilarious from start to finish. This is, unquestionably, the funniest movie released this week.

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose: Season 1

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose is only remembered by people who were addicted to shitty FOX programming in the early 90’s; it’s a blatant Ferris Bueller rip-off, and it’s now available on DVD for the 50 people who might actually remember it. Maybe now they’ll finally release the live-action Bill & Ted TV series, to the delight of no one.

LATE NIGHT

Almost everything is in repeats this week, with the exception of Stewart & Colbert, which means you'll probably be attentively watching episodes of The Colbert Report where he ironically yet respectfully interviews someone who wrote a book you'll never read about the Hard-Wired Economics of Global Elections because there isn't anything else on.

If you're really hard up you can watch John Leguizamo prostitute himself for Ice Age 3: Nobody Gives A Shit on Regis & Kelly. That's happening this week.