August 28th marks Comedy Central's scheduled CD
release of comic Jim Gaffigan's standup special Mr. Universe
recorded in a live performance at the Warner Theatre in Washington. The comedian had previously made the special
available as a DRM-free download back in April for five dollars, one dollar of
which was to be donated to the Bob Woodruff Foundation which aids wounded
servicemen and their families.
The 75 minute set is vintage Gaffigan—precisely honed
observational comedy delivered with spot on timing. Gaffigan finds his humor in highlighting the
absurdities of daily living. He talks
about kids and Disney vacations, the multiplication of athletic shoes for any
possible occasion and then some, and the creepiness of hotel pools. He talks about body building and the love of
McDonalds French fries. He mentions the
dangers of indulging in Indian food. He never
has to stray all that far from the beaten path to find something funny.
He speaks to us all. There are those comedians who seem to
dwell in the obtuse. Cult figures, they talk to an audience of insiders. This
is not Gaffigan. If you've eaten at Subway or bought one of Domino's
concoctions, he'll have you laughing out loud.
And if not, you'll just have to agree with one of those little
self-deprecating critical asides he habitually tosses into his act over the
course of the evening. "Can you
believe it? A diarrhea joke." Diarrhea
and a closing riff on ExtenZe, by the way, are just about the closest he comes
to working with anything offensive, and in this day and age you'd have to be
living on some other planet to find that offensive.
Mr. Universe is the comic's fourth album
for Comedy Central. His first three--Doing My Time,
Beyond the Pale and King Baby--have combined
to sell over 500,000 copies. His TV appearances include shows like
Flight of the Conchords, Bored to Death, Conan
and The Late Show with David Letterman.
Comedy Central has been releasing a stellar collection of
stand up albums from some pretty funny comics in recent months: Reggie Watts,
Doug Benson, John Mulaney, Hannibal Buress.
Jim Gaffigan's latest is an impressive addition to the catalogue. Check out a sample and see for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment