Road Trip Album Picks: "Thin Pig" from Todd Glass

WHAT: Todd Glass' first album of 100% stand-up
LABEL: Comedy Central Records, 2009
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Quality modern comedy albums
WHERE TO FIND IT: Online or bust
LENGTH: 60 minutes

Comedy Central Records should be ashamed of themselves for releasing this record. That is, they should be ashamed of releasing this album as a download-exclusive. Todd Glass' superb Thin Pig is one of the best albums we've heard in the past few years. Glass' second album, this release covers material from his whole career and a gag or two first shown on his original album which nobody ever heard in the first place. (Including you, our statistics show.)

His former podcast Comedy and Everything Else does influence his material slightly, in between the bits going for big laughs are a few attempts at applause lines. For example, he has a marvelous routine about K-Mart and Target, pointing out that the former is, essentially, something of a shithole. (If you live in Los Angeles and can still find one, odds are you can verify this.) His outrage is real, and really funny if you, like Glass, understand the importance of things like clean floors. Spoiler: they're important.

My one big beef with this release is that it wasn't put in stores. Comedy Central Records releases a ton of albums, many of which may sport bigger names but this is easily one of the funniest. Also, Glass has a fantastic voice which carries well in a car, which is the most important thing about a good road trip comedy album. Aside, you know, from being great. Get this one. Oh, and it was recorded at the Tempe Improv in Arizona, in case you were curious.

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 Album Picks: Matt Braunger's "Soak Up The Night"

WHAT: Debut stand-up album from someone you probably never heard of
LABEL: Comedy Central Records (2009, Digital)
GOOD IF YOU LIKE: Brian Regan, if he cursed more and was angrier
WHERE TO FIND IT: Online

While you may not have heard of Mr. Braunger-- an alumnus of Mad TV-- he's a pretty funny guy. Unfortunately, Comedy Central Records apparently did not think enough of him to put this album in retail bins, but you can download it through a variety of online digital content services.

A number of observational bits are mixed in with what probably would have made some great sketches, or to say the least, a wonderful bit on the long since canceled Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. It's also worth noting that while he does have a bit called "George W. Bush's DUI," it has very little to do with our former president and pretty much everything to do with what it takes to get arrested in Texas. Which is a plus, given that telling W. jokes in 2009 are like shooting fish in a barrel. Does anyone want to hear another bad Bush impression? Probably not.

Bruanger has a good voice that should carry through your car on any trip, plus if you bring this along, you're likely to be able to expose your friends to something they haven't heard yet. I should also take care to point out that he managed to do a Jim Morrison bit that that didn't seem hacky, which is no small feat. Kudos are in order for taking a pop culture icon and doing something you haven't heard with him.

Choice quotes out of context:
"Old men that drink rusty nails want to die."
"I hunt and kill unicorns. For their candy-like meat."
"Fuck. You win again, Skeletor."
"An owl raised in captivity will never stop trying to attack you."

Warning/guarantee: a lot of this material is still in his live set. But if you've never seen him, obviously, this is 100% new to you.

Those looking for a free sample of his work, check out the podcast MATTs Radio which, at press time, seems to be on a little break.

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: 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.

Do You Believe in Gosh?

Mitch Hedberg: Do You Believe in Gosh?
Released by Comedy Central Records
September 9, 2008

Every February 24th I think of a lot of things, one is that I've gotten another year older, and that Mitch Hedberg would have gotten another year older, but he is fucking dead. Then I get doubly depressed. He was a comic who could write very snappy jokes and had an un-snappy delivery, and it all came together is something that was damn funny.

It was a pleasant surprise to find Do You Believe in Gosh? A new CD featuring Mitch Hedberg. Unfortunately he was not resurrected; instead the CD is an album recorded two months before his death at the Improv in Ontario, California. It is a performance of mostly new, some untested material that was meant to go on a proper CD later in that year. There's a lot of good material, a bit of rough material, like "Tea Ski" in which he wanted to "go to a lake and tea bags in there, like a hundred of them for a week and then, Tea Ski."

The recording is done at a live show and appears to be minimally edited. This gives the album a more intimate feel that Hedberg's other albums lack.ed. It's nice, especially wehn you hear the hecklers and Mitch Hedberg's response to them. One man yells from the back that he "has something to put in his pipe" to which Hedberg replies with "Oh, I bet you do! Only you don't think about the fact that there might be police around! What have you got, you got some dope? Fuckin' doper! Arrest that dude!" It's good to see an example of Hedberg being quick on his feet, despite his laid-back demeanor.

It's overall a good, but bittersweet album. You know, the usual "Shit, I wish he were still alive making comedy, fuck," kind of album. The booklet included makes it even sadder with the inclusion of pages of comedy notes written by Hedberg and a whole lot of pictures. The physical copy wins over the digital download solely because of this extra.

It's nice. It is a final album obviously put together with care and respect, and not too expensive. If you liked Mitch Hedberg you will want to get this one last album. Unless of course, he and Tupac are secretly hanging out somewhere, which we can only hope.

Back of CD:


Inside cover with disc:


Some pages from the booklet: