Your favourite Stand-up Comedy Albums/Specials
01 Nov '13 19:575 editsI'm a big fan of stand-up comedy and there are certain albums or one-time performances that I have watched and listened to several times over. I'm always looking for more so your recommendations, please.
My favourites, in order:
1. Bill Hicks - Relentless LP
Posthumous release featuring a compilation of his best material. Bill Hicks crafted a style all his own that has been ripped off and liberated by many. An abrasive and relentless style where nothing is sacred and no one is safe.
2. Dave Chappelle's For What It's Worth DVD
My favourite performance of recent memory. 60 mins where not a single minute drags or is unfunny. In my opinion, the best set as a whole that I have ever heard. His TV show was hit or miss and his fame because of it made all of his future work suffer but in this performance his material, timing, storytelling and delivery are at their best.
3. Louis CK - Shameless HBO Special
Louis' crude observational humour is cringeworthy but hilarious. His strained marriage and child-rearing bits are probably the best in that topic. His prolificness is unrivaled. His unique vignette-based TV show is one of the best things going. Your look into his life without any filters makes this comic a special talent.
4. Anthony Jeselnik - Shakespeare LP
Shock humour at its most cutting. Not for everyone. One-liner humour with absolutely punishing punchlines covering the most taboo of subjects.
5. Jim Gaffigan - Beyond the Pale DVD/LP
A one-time performance done that collected his most memorable material over the year, 90% of which are about food. A clean comedian who uses no profanity and gets laughs on the sole basis of his relate-able material. A rare talent. Sadly his newer material tends to be more unfocused and spotty. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN3q-iKMHI0)
6. Doug Stanhope - Die Laughing LP
An abrasive and offensive genius. No other way to put it other than terrible, crude, disgusting but entirely human. A comic's comic and one of the best and most prolific today.
My favourites, in order:
1. Bill Hicks - Relentless LP
Posthumous release featuring a compilation of his best material. Bill Hicks crafted a style all his own that has been ripped off and liberated by many. An abrasive and relentless style where nothing is sacred and no one is safe.
2. Dave Chappelle's For What It's Worth DVD
My favourite performance of recent memory. 60 mins where not a single minute drags or is unfunny. In my opinion, the best set as a whole that I have ever heard. His TV show was hit or miss and his fame because of it made all of his future work suffer but in this performance his material, timing, storytelling and delivery are at their best.
3. Louis CK - Shameless HBO Special
Louis' crude observational humour is cringeworthy but hilarious. His strained marriage and child-rearing bits are probably the best in that topic. His prolificness is unrivaled. His unique vignette-based TV show is one of the best things going. Your look into his life without any filters makes this comic a special talent.
4. Anthony Jeselnik - Shakespeare LP
Shock humour at its most cutting. Not for everyone. One-liner humour with absolutely punishing punchlines covering the most taboo of subjects.
5. Jim Gaffigan - Beyond the Pale DVD/LP
A one-time performance done that collected his most memorable material over the year, 90% of which are about food. A clean comedian who uses no profanity and gets laughs on the sole basis of his relate-able material. A rare talent. Sadly his newer material tends to be more unfocused and spotty. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN3q-iKMHI0)
6. Doug Stanhope - Die Laughing LP
An abrasive and offensive genius. No other way to put it other than terrible, crude, disgusting but entirely human. A comic's comic and one of the best and most prolific today.
