Comedy CD Review: Jim Gaffigan - Mr. Universe

This article was first published at Blogcritics

August 28^th 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.

Comedy Review: Reggie Watts: A Live at Central Park,

This article was first published at Blogcritics

Watching a comedian like Reggie Watt makes me feel like people of my age must have felt when they first heard the likes of Lenny Bruce or Andy Kauffman.  I mean if your idea of a comedian is Bob Hope or Jack Benny, what on earth are you going to make of these new voices, lauded and praised thought they be.  So along comes Comedy Central's CD/DVD set, Reggie Watts: A Live at Central Park, and I have to ask myself, am I the right person to review it?   I know that a lot of very bright people think of him as a major cutting edge talent.  I know that he as much praised for his musical talent as he is for his comic sensibility.  And I know that I am never quite sure that I get him.  I may find myself laughing at some of his bits, but when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure what's so funny about beat boxing nonsense syllables.

So having confessed my fears of inadequacy for the task at hand let me rush in where I ought fear to tread.   First, here are some of the basic facts about the new release. The set was recorded at Summerstage in Manhattan's Central Park on June 22, 2011.  The CD has 13 tracks.  The DVD has a selection of most of the same tracks plus added sketch sequences in which Watts' tries to determine if the Central Park performance is really a dream, or perhaps even a dream within a dream.  There will be a world premiere showing of I presume a censored version of the evening on Comedy Central on May 11, at 1:00am.  The CD/DVD combo will be released on May 15^th.

The set featuring the typical elements that Watts' fans have more than likely come to expect from him will not disappoint them.  There are the vocal gyrations, the beat boxing, the looping, even a little fancy footwork—all both comically absurd and musically inventive.  It's the kind of thing that wouldn't be funny in the hands of a musically inept performer, but that the musically talented Watts can turn into a tour de force.  It's the kind of thing his fans love; it is obvious in the audience reaction to the piece he calls "Reggiohead."  They know where he's going the minute he opens his mouth.  To show my age again: it makes me think of a performer like Victor Borge, whose ridicule of classical music and its performers worked because his own virtuosity was well recognized.

"Tweet Yourself Right" is an impromptu romp that begins with Zippos at concerts and moves to tissues near your computer screen and ends with social media. Going on for almost 12   presumably improvised minutes and showing off some sweet vocal gymnastics, this has to be one of the highlights of the evening. "Having Sex" is another nice piece. "So Good Yeah," a kind of Stevie Wonder take off which is only on the CD is a musical gem. The thing about Watts is that you never know where he's likely to go or how he's going to get there, you just have to sit back and enjoy the trip.

It's the same for the absurdist monologues like his dissertation on time which seems to mean something but that ends in utter nonsense and the little games he likes to play with the audience.  Sometimes, as in "Boroughs" it seems to go on too long before he decides where to take it, but once he gets going, he works it.  He does one of his patented British dialect rants starting with the craziness of performers, gives a nod to Adele and ends in absolute absurdity.  There is silliness, there is profanity, but there is also truth. 

A quarter of a century from now, some old codger will be listening to some new cutting edge comic, and he'll likely be thinking "watching this guy, I feel like someone my age must have felt watching Reggie Watts back in the day."