Dick Gregory: In Living Black and White

Before there was Richard Pryor, before there was Bill Cosby, there was Dick Gregory. A leading pioneer in African American stand-up comedy, Gregory was more than jokes, he was social justice. He was one of the first comedians to perform for both white and black audiences and used his microphone and satire to help advance the civil rights movement. In Living Black and White was the first of 12 albums he released in a 14 year span. Fortunately for the comedy world, he started off on the right foot.

Something I found interesting about this CD which I have yet to encounter with any other album, is that there are breaks between each track with commentary. Scripted, and sounding like an old radio broadcast, a voice comes on introducing each new joke. They are short segues, however they seem to take away from the natural flow of a set. I plan on looking into this further when I get the chance. Now to the jokes

Gregory starts off by talking about how he's always being compared to white comedians like Mort Sahl and Bob Newhart. Right off the bat, Gregory's jokes deal with the dichotomy of the world, by narrowing in on the dichotomy of the comedy world. He goes on to comment on the evolution of stand-up comedy, and how it takes a lot more to get the same amount of laughs. He demonstrates this by telling a joke that would be told 20 years ago (or, in our case, 70 years ago) and pointing out how unfunny it is. His audience's silence shows their accord. Then he retells the same joke with a different, better punchline that draws a much better reaction from the crowd. This joke resonates even today. Most audiences today, especially the younger ones, could listen to Lenny Bruce or Bob Hope and not think it's nearly as funny as audiences did back then. A very original joke premise that I have not heard from any other comedian.

Next Gregory jokes about being black in the South, citing one incident where he accidentally stumbled into a restaurant that didn't want him in it. A controversial subject for any audience becomes a big laugh for everybody. This led to a series of political, current event jokes, mostly dealing with the election of Kennedy and the departure of Eisenhower. Political jokes are generally pretty good for laughs, and Gregory's are no exception. One topic he likes to joke about is African American voting, especially the political machine of Chicago rigging the elections, "we're trying to make up for the times we couldn't vote"

Staying in the realm of current events, his material turns to the Cold War and, particularly, the race to space. He makes a topic of heavy turmoil and caution a laughable subject by mocking both are concern over losing the race as well as lightly poking fun of the Soviets.

Following these are a few more less than memorable (though still enjoyable) jokes dealing with marriage, the Israeli-Palestinian debacle, and various employment opportunities. No gut busters, but several very amusing jokes. The last track, however, had the biggest laugh of the CD, at least for me, when he talks about being in a bad situation in an airplane. A well constructed set up, and a punchline that surprises any audience. The best joke on the CD.

If you're a real fan of comedy, this CD is a must have for its contribution and inspiration for the art of stand-up. But like I said earlier, much of today's audience won't get the same kind of kick out of the jokes as listeners did in 1961. Though I still recommend it to anybody. I think it would even hold merit being taught in an American history course, because of it's material concerning racial tension in the South and the Cold War.

Worst tracks: 100 Proof, Middle East
Best Tracks: 50,000 ft-and No Insurance, Comedian of the 60's

Overall rating: 8/10

Nick Thune: Thick Noon

This is my first review from an album made post-2006. I first heard about it when I was reading a list of albums Comedy Central Records had produced. I saw this and saw it was around such names as Joe Rogan, Lewis Black, and Daniel Tosh in the list of albums made this year. He's certainly not in bad company. After realizing how far behind I was on my more recent comedy purchases, I picked up a couple of newer albums, this being one of them. A mostly unknown comedian, he has slowly risen through the ranks as both an actor and stand-up, appearing in Knocked Up and Unaccompanied Minors and coming out with a CD and Comedy Central web-series. Needless to say, I was intrigued to see how good this album would be.

The first ten minutes of the album are hysterical. He throws out several one liners and very short anecdotes to the tune of him playing guitar, very reminiscent of Demetri Martin or Zach Galifianakis. Like Martin, he switches around common phrases or words to make them into a joke. And like Galifianakis, he throws out potentially very awkward social scenes and ends with out he would react if he were in those circumstances.

After a few tracks of these, his set turns more towards long-form jokes, starting with a joke centered around following a stoned friend around and recording his actions. Hilarious situation with hilarious punchlines. The following singing tracks aren't really songs, as much as Thune telling long-formed jokes to a rhythm of guitar while occasionally singing out a line here or there. There aren't many gut-busting lines here, but they are nevertheless very amusing throughout, and they keep the audience entertained (mostly).

The last five tracks of the album are devoted entirely to singing jokes. These aren't the same as the previous singing jokes, because in these, Thune is legitimately singing, not just talking to melody. Typically, I don't like singing comedians, because they just seem so gimmicky and cheap. Thune is no exception. These tracks are a bore and I really wouldn't have missed anything if I had just ended the CD before they started. I understand the creativity in them, but honestly, if you have funny material, and you can tell jokes (which he clearly can judging by the earlier portion of the CD), then just find a way to work them into your regular set. There's no need to show your musical talent while the audience is sitting there wanting to laugh (most of these final tracks are studio-recorded, but still).

Nick Thune got the crowd into it quick, but slowly lost them; a better organized set would do wonders for him. Throwing long-form jokes in with the one liners prolongs the audiences attention span. He has a lot of great material, he just needs to figure out how to use it better.

Worst tracks: Red Bull Decaf, Backflip (in addition to all the singing tracks)
Best tracks: Weed Timeline, I Don't Care

Overall Rating: 5/10

George Lopez: Right Now Right Now

George Lopez is the prominent Latino comedian in today’s stand-up circle. Influenced by Hispanic comedians like Cheech and Chong and Fredde Prinze, the torch of the Latino-American has been unofficially passed to him (though Carlos Mencia keeps trying to steal it), and he accepts the responsibility. He has done many great things to help the Latino community, and his community as a whole through his philanthropic efforts. He even tries to bring as much diversity in entertainment through his television shows. It’s no surprise that his sets are centered around his heritage.

From his first joke to his last, he essentially just talks about one thing: being Mexican-American. He delves into numerous aspects of growing up in such a household, from being raised poor, to family “vacations” to Mexico, to anticlimactic birthdays, Lopez gives the audience a very clear idea of what his childhood was like.

However, Lopez’s biggest demographic is his own, and it’s clear that much of his audience already seems familiar with the situations he describes. I listened to one of his jokes with a friend of mine (both of us are white), and there were parts that we didn’t quite get, but the audience was hysterical. Throughout his CD, Lopez will throw in some Spanish sentences (mostly imitating one of his family members/friends) that will go over the head of any non-Spanish speaker. I can only assume that they’re funny, since the audience is eating it up. Though, to be honest, even if you only know a little bit of Spanish, you can piece together what he says, add the context of the joke, and have a good idea of what he’s saying. Some people don’t like to think that much when they listen to comedy, but the parts I was able to piece together were entertaining.

When he’s describing life as a poor Mexican-American, he is sure to compare his lifestyle with the typical suburban white family. This seems like it would be instinctive, but there are plenty of comedians who joke about their own culture/background without comparing it to the larger demographic, and it hurts the set (Dat Phan comes to mind). He does a good job painting the picture and showing the contrast, but I have to say, I cannot stand his white-person voice. Everybody knows what I’m talking about; most minority comedians have a distinct voice that they use to refer to white people (white comedians Daniel Tosh and Mike Birbiglia even have jokes about it). Dave Chappelle’s sounds like a news anchor, Carlos Mencia’s sounds like a southerner, and George Lopez’s sounds like a valley girl. It’s not offensive, it just gets a little annoying after a while. Minor criticism, nothing deal-breaking.

One thing that Lopez does very well is set up a foundation for his jokes. I’m not referring to the set-up for a punch-line, I mean setting up jokes in the future. Latino idiosyncrasies that he jokes about in the beginning of the CD keep coming up again and again in the later tracks. He does this so well that regardless of how good a punch-line is towards the 15^th, 16^th, 17^th track, he makes it instantly funnier by adding a quick quip from an old joke. It helps build for later jokes, and aids the jokes that aren’t particularly strong on their own. The end result is a very consistent stream of comedy.

My biggest criticism for this CD is that Lopez never veers away from his main premise. A great comedian is able to joke about a wide variety of topics and their wide variety of subtopics. Right Now Right Now only deals with many subcategories of the same subject: life as a Mexican-American. Yes, his jokes on this subject are quite good, and there is a lot of material in it, but half-way through the CD, I was hoping he’d move on to something else; he needed to shake things up. As mixed up as it sounds, it’s easier for an audience to stay with you when you make a few turns than when you just go straight.

To sum everything up, what would make this an excellent CD is his layered material and his consistency of quality jokes. What would make this CD poor is its one-trick-pony tendency and its limitations on a larger demographic. Overall, a quality CD that’s good for laughs.

Worst Tracks: Holmes Depot, Original Factory Color

Best Tracks: Memmer?...You Memmer!, Chicano Dudes

Overall rating: 6/10

Jeff Foxworthy: You Might Be A Redneck If

You might be a redneck if you had a failing sitcom costarring Haley Joel Osment. You might be a redneck if you helped form one of the biggest powerhouse teams in comedy history. You might be a redneck if you've sold 15 million comedy albums. If your comedy sales are more than twice that of Richard Pryor and Steve Martin combined, you might be a redneck. Jeff Foxworthy flat out knows how to make people laugh. He is a pioneer for southern-based stand-up comedians like Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy (a group aptly named the Blue Collar Comedy Group). Do all of these records make him the best ever? I don't think so. The same reason Nascar isn't the best sport, yet most popular in the United States. But just because he's not the best, it doesn't mean he hasn't deserved an incredible amount of respect for his work in stand-up. His fame all started with You Might Be A Redneck If, a CD that went multiplatinum (not too bad for your first album).

The CD starts off with a bit that has garnered Foxworthy quite a bit of fame. His first joke deals with Southern words and dialects. He lists off several terms that one would hear a Southerner say, and makes fun of the absurdity of them. None of them are actual words, but in fact a conjunction of words that are mashed together and spoken with a Southern twang ("y'all" would be the most common I can think of, but Foxworthy goes much deeper than this simple example).

Then the joke that has made him oh so famous, You Might Be A Redneck If... Probably the most famous comedy catchphrase of all time, surpassing Steve Martin's "Excuuuuuuuuse me!" and Rodney Dangerfield's "No respect!" (or a variant thereof). Foxworthy throws out redneck joke after redneck joke, each one leaving the audience rolling. They aren't deep, they aren't profound, they're just fun, a statement that sums up Jeff Foxworthy. But considering how this one track launched such a career, it's surprising how its less than three minutes long. He has even said that most of his comedy comes from the differences between men and women, people just love the redneck jokes the most. And he's right. Over sixteen minutes of this album are dedicated to tracks dealing with relationships.

He talks about being a father, particularly of fathering babies. From changing diapers to parents talking about how brilliant their children are, these jokes are overall amusing, with an occasional gut-busting line here and there. Oddly enough, he goes from these jokes to jokes about being single, and all the excitement and trouble it causes. Foxworthy contrasts the differences between single guys telling sex stories to married men telling sex stories. Like I said, funny, but not entirely ground-breaking material.

On the longest track of the CD, Foxworthy covers a wide variety of related topics. From weddings, to road trips with family, to general husband-wife oddities, his material is not exclusive to Southern tendencies, but instead it's more inclusive to most married couples. One of his favorite jokes (which has found variations on other CDs and specials) deals with wives asking dangerous questions, and the traps they create for men. All of these relationship jokes are his real specialty, and he does them very, very well.

Jeff Foxworthy is a comedian with very run-of-the-mill deliveries. He tells good jokes filled with some great lines that relate to a wide assortment of people, both from the Bible belt and otherwise (though it's no secret that his biggest draw comes from the South). If you're looking for an act that leaves you pondering the society we live in, he's not the comedian for you. If you're looking for a stand-up that entertains on a more superficial level with every day situations, you might be a fan of Jeff Foxworthy.

Worst Track: Words in the South
Best Track: I Love Being Married

Overall rating: 6/10