I am a fan of hilarity
Let us begin this post about “best of” things with a little reminder of what is THE WORST thing.
Jeff Dunham is THE WORST.
The worst what? Comedian, ventriloquist, guest star on 30 Rock, person. Take your pick! He is THE WORST at everything. But America loves him. He is like Larry The Cable Guy, but he hides his racist, homophobic, sexist bullshit behind puppets. Like Sweet Daddy Dee. His black pimp puppet. That’s right. You heard that right. It is 2010 and there is a ventriloquist dummy that is a black pimp who is not Franklin from Arrested Development.
But hey, if you’re lucky, Walter, his old man dummy, might make some disparaging remarks about women and their inability to drive or something. LOOK OUT, WORLD! JEFF DUNHAM IS TELLIN’ IT LIKE IT IS!
Also, Dunham has been doing the same, tired, shitty act for YEARS. I remember seeing him on Improv or Just For Laughs or something in the early nineties and he was doing the “jalapeno on a steek” bit, which he still does. NEW MATERIAL. Look into it.
ANYHOOZLE. Jeff Dunham’s Comedy Central show was cancelled recently. I don’t know why. Perhaps because he is THE WORST. That’s probably it. Maybe it was baby Jesus’s present to all of us. Thanks, Sweet Baby J. I really appreciate that!
On to THE BEST!
Because Pat has covered a lot of my favourite music that came out this year (Except Lady Gaga. Honestly. She’s awesome and I’m not even kidding and I might even write about her later), I decided to focus my reflections on “the year that was” elsewhere.
Two of my all-time favourite stand-up comedians released new albums last year. And those albums were quite awesome! Maybe not as awesome as their previously released albums, but still awesome. Paul F. Tompkins and Patton Oswalt are those two comedians.
When I got back from Europe in early November, I found out that Tompkins had performed in Toronto in October after 300 people twittered that they would attend his show at the Rivoli. Make that 301, sir! I thus resolved never to go anywhere again, because who wants to miss their favourite stand-up comedian’s performance in a neighbouring city? And for what? Europe? Pfffft. Europe will be there forever! Tompkins is, like, 41. He’s only got a few good years left before we send him to a farm in upstate New York where he can run around and play with all the other comedians. No wait. That’s what twitter is for.
I like his comedy because he really acts it up. How can you not love a comedian who spends five and a half minutes talking about peanut brittle? His bits from 2007’s Impersonal meander along down a road that might start at Banana Republic (or B-Rep, for those of you who go there a lot) and end with the revelation that he likes to eat money because he is part goat.
Paul F. Tompkins - Freak Wharf
It’s impossible to pick a favourite track from Impersonal. He makes fun of Jazz, Entertainment Weekly, the Irish, people who own exotic pets, goths and Sesame Street.
The lines “Money that I have!” “Please make it rain potatoes!” “C’mon Cecil! We’re goin’ to the bank so everybody can get a load of your crazy eyes!” and “I didn’t decollapse my opera hat for this!” were oft quoted by my friend Jess and I as we traipsed around Europe.
His latest album, Freak Wharf, features bits about angry dogs, new dads, smashed penny machines and the epic battle between cake vs. pie. The title of the album comes from a bit about the book Go Ask Alice and Tompkins’ assertion that it is “the phoniest of baloneys.”
My only complaint about the new album is that it’s not long enough. I want more! Hurry up, comedians make new material!
As for Patton Oswalt, he’s exploded in popularity recently, with several movie roles and a few TV spots as well. He had a guest role on Dollhouse and I loved him as the kind of creepy guy who bought the services of Eliza Dushku’s Echo to play his long-dead wife. I also want to see Big Fan, the movie where he plays a conflicted fan of a football team who is beaten by one of his heroes.
I like living in a world where a dude like Patton Oswalt gets top billing in movies. I also like living in a world where King of Queens is no longer on the air, but when it was, I always thought “Well, Patton Oswalt’s gotta eat.”
Patton Oswalt - My Weakness is Strong
His observations about geekdom, being fat in a skinny world, growing up in nowhereseville, flying JetBlue and religion are bitter, angry and far from the image King of Queens viewers and owners of Ratatouilleprobably have of him.
His bits about KFC famous bowls and Star Trek from 2007’s Werewolves and Lollipops are HI-larious. Failure pile in a sadness bowl indeed. I think his best track from his new album, My Weakness is Strong, is the one in which he and his wife and realtor interrupt an orgy.
Having said that, I will go ahead and assume that you now realize that these tracks feature salty language and frank discussion of sex, drugs and jazz.
You’ve been warned.
Buy Paul F. Tompkins on iTunes and Patton Oswalt on iTunes. You won’t even regret it. It might even lead you to other comedians like David Cross and Louis C.K. and Maria Bamford. These people should be your new heroes.
Paul F. Tompkins - Jazz: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Paul F. Tompkins - Go Ask Alice: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Patton Oswalt - Beautiful People and a Bridge Troll: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Patton Oswalt - Orgy: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
