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
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