Tell me funny comedy CDs

[Laurie]

Bill Hicks?

What kind of wizard are you, Jason?

[Gilly]

For some reason, the live show really upped my appreciation of this man.

That's what I kind of thought.

[Dorvid Barnas]

I second Todd Barry and Maria Bamford.

Also, the Comedy Death Ray compilation has mostly recent stuff from, among many others:

Paul F. Tompkins
Maria Bamford
Todd Glass
David Cross
Doug Benson
Jimmy Pardo

[Forrest]

I second Todd Barry and Maria Bamford.

Also, the Comedy Death Ray compilation has mostly recent stuff from, among many others:

Paul F. Tompkins
Maria Bamford
Todd Glass
David Cross
Doug Benson
Jimmy Pardo

Is anyone else a fan of the Andy Daly track in disc two of CDR? The one where he does the indignant comic thing for four minutes without actually telling a joke. I think it's absolutely brilliant and I wish I could find out more about this guy. Does anybody know where more of his stand-up can be found?

[samir]

My interest is piqued about CDR. Will look into it when I get home. Nice work, troopers.

[Forrest]

"You got guys over here sayin' 'hey, how's about it?' You got guy over here going 'hey, what do ya think?' And here I am in the middle going 'whoa. whoa. whoa! WHOA! WHOA!...Knock it off!"

[cron]

This is probably rather polarizing (well, if anybody here has actually heard it) because its so completely bizarre/surreal/insane, but I absolutely love the Longmont Potion Castle series of prank call cds (and I usually hate prank calls). 

I can't help but admire a man who got Sidney Poitier to utter the immortal words "NOBODY IN THIS HOUSE ORDERED ANY MILLIPEDES! FUCK YOU!"

[Itslikeimsayin]

Jim Gaffigan "Doing My Time"

[Josh]

Hey idiots!

What about Just Farr a Laugh, Vol. 1 or it's upcoming sequel, Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 and 2, the first comedy release evah on Matador?

Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 and 2 will be released February 19th on Matador Records. It will be the first comedy release for the legendary indie label; a past and current home to Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, The Ponys, Interpol, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mission of Burma, and The Unsane. The double CD set constitutes the world’s greatest collection of prank phone calls. Included in the package will be a book (not booklet) of drawings, photographs, and writing, all courtesy of multiple contributors. It’s a virtual who’s who that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but nonetheless creates a wonderful companion to the recorded works.

Bleachy, absurd celebrity impersonations, pop-cultural clusterf**ks, total insanity – the whole gang is here…a 150-minute assault on your funny bone.

If you are a fan of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, Yes’ Tales from Topographic Oceans, the Hampton Grease Band’s Music To Eat, The Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out, Husker Du’s Zen Arcade, the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime, TFUL 282’s Mother of All Saints, and wish there was a prank call/comedy version of these wonderfully indulgent, macro masterpieces, well, it looks like February 19th is going to be your lucky day. That last sentence is a thinly-veiled way to say that unless you are promotionally serviced by Matador Records or rank amongst the contributors, don’t expect a burn or freebie.

A short list of artists that contributed drawings: Mike Aho, Archer Prewitt, Devendra Banhart, Mark Henning, Ian Marshall, Gavin McInnes, Jake Oas, Aurel Schmidt, Matt Sweeney, and Megan Whitmarsh.

Don’t know ‘em? Look ‘em up. Some of these people can be found on the Internet.

The entire list of writers that contributed forewords: Gregg Turkington (AKA Neil Hamburger, comedy genius, writer, Warm Voices Rearranged), Matador co-owner/co-founder Gerard Cosloy, David Dunlap Jr. (writer, Washington City Paper, Memphis Flyer, funny guy), and master humorist/writer Neil Pollack (books: Alternadad, The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature, Never Mind The Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel, editor/contributor: Akashic’s Chicago Noir).

All of the must-be-seen-to-be-believed photography is by Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury. Seriously, it will blow your mind.

Otherwise, the respective introductions and thousands upon thousands of words of track-by-track commentary are provided by Andrew Earles and Jeffrey Jensen.

Who you are dealing with:

Along with writer Ian Christe and artist Steve Keene, Jeffrey Jensen founded modern day Brooklyn NYC around 1992, during the Dinkins administration. He has written or directed the films The Low Down Dirty D.A.W.G.S. (1999), Street Boogie (2001, shelved), and Graceland Too: The Movie (still in production). An accomplished artist, Jeff is known for his puppet shows, intricate nightlight dioramas, and evenings of vast entertainment, as well as anything else you could possibly think of. With his incredibly magnetic personality, Mr. Jensen has left a lasting mental imprint on anyone lucky enough to have spent over an hour in his presence. Jeffrey has played in many bands, including The Closet Case, The Jewish, The Star Spangles, plus he was the bass player for Homestead Records recording artists Smack Dab. He drives a 1982 Chrysler Lebaron, contributes regularly to Vice Magazine, and was accidentally shot with a .22 rifle when he was 13-years-old.

Andrew Earles is a writer and loosely-defined humorist that lives in Memphis, TN. His words regularly appear in The Onion A/V Club, Spin, Harp, Paste, Magnet, Vice, Paste, Chunklet, and The Memphis Flyer…among others. He founded The Cimarron Weekend in 1997, co-publishing and co-editing said argument-starter with David Dunlap Jr. until 2001. Four or five people like to claim that it was a great zine. From 2001 until late 2006, Andrew was a regular contributor to Tom Scharpling’s The Best Show on WFMU. As far as books go, his essays have appeared in the now out-of-print Lost In The Grooves (Routledge) and remainder table favorite, The Overrated Book (Last Gasp). He is a core contributor to The Rock Bible, to be published by Quirk in 2008. Most of his attempts at live comedy have failed miserably. Andrew is a proud Southerner and amateur, wanna-be outdoorsman that loves to fish, act like he knows a lot about animals, and walk around in the woods. He sometimes has a smart mouth, yet against all logic, has yet to receive that long-overdue ass-whomping (not an invitation). This is his blog: www.failedpilot.com

Jeffrey Joe Jensen and Andrew Scott Earles are Leo’s, reliably carrying all of the negative and positive baggage of that particular sign. Amazingly, and unknown to the duo until several years ago, they share the exact same birthday of August 15th.

[masterofsparks]

I like Richard Pryor's albums a whole bunch. And although I don't agree with his politics, Sam Kinison's albums are still really funny to me.

As far as "bigger" (i.e. non-alternative) modern comics, I really like Robert Schimmel's albums. And although his name seems to be a bit of a dirty word among aficionados, I really like Eddie Izzard's stuff. I've only seen the DVDs, and I'd imagine it would suffer without the visual element (i.e. on CD).

P.S. Bill Hicks

[masterofsparks]

What about Just Farr a Laugh, Vol. 1 or it's upcoming sequel, Earles and Jensen Present: Just Farr A Laugh Vol. 1 and 2, the first comedy release evah on Matador?

I thought about mentioning that but forgot. Good one, and I'm not normally too into the prank call thing. Do you know if the Matador release will include the original CD release, or will it be all-new stuff?

[erika]

I also really liked the National Lampoon Radio Hour, but I grew up with that so it might just be nostalgia.

[kenkwan]

What is the appeal of Neil Hamburger? I've tried listening to him many times and just don't get it.

Its his zipper schtick.

Zipper Prick!

[Rainer]

This isn't really "comedy", but it does make me laugh, even though it shouldn't make me laugh:

http://ubu.artmob.ca/sound/roche_jim/Roche-Jim_Learning-To-Count_04_Bubble-Blower.mp3

(Yes, a Kenny G staple).

[jane]

There's also Red Fisher's Poems Of Our Great Outdoors with the awesome one named something like, "T'was The Night Before Fishin'" and Fred Blassie's Pencil Neck Geek.