Reiner, Carl and Mel Brooks – “Complete Works Of, The” – [Warner Brothers Records]

Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks team up as one of the best comedy duos I’ve never heard before, and what a treat to check out this triple LP. The whole 2000 year old man series is freaking hilarious, ??but the whole thing, each little sketch still stands the test of time from In A Coffeehouse to The Psychiatrist to The Cannes Film Festival.

All the bits are pretty much Reiner asking Brooks, acting as different characters, improvising hilarious answers back at Reiner. The hilarity really comes in Brooks’ delivery and timing, he answers the questions almost immediately. There’s a track on here for everybody and it’s pretty easy to figure out what it’s about by the title. There’s no music so it’s easy to mix with, and it’s pretty fucking funny. Throw it on and get ready to laugh out loud…

Weinbach, Brent – “Night Shift, The” – [Talent Moat]

This is comedian Brent Weinbach’s second full length album. It includes material recorded live at the Purple Onion on 1/08/09 (tracks 2,3,9, 14, 20 & 23 ) songs recorded in SF in 2008 (7, 12 & 24) and phone messages from Brent’s answering machine from 2002-2006 (1, 3, 4, 13, 15, 19 & 22).

Watch for Language on 1,2,3,4, 8, 9, 13,19, 21 & 22.
Use discretion with tracks 6 and 18.

Rickles, Don – “Don Rickles Speaks! ” – [Jewish Music Group]

Rapid-fire ire from a man who can still burn any celebrity roast. This
is basically an improv session, with Rickles rarely missing a beat;
well when someone pulls a rodeo out of thin air, Rickles isn’t able to
lasso anything too quickly… Sure much of this humor is based on pop
culture riffing from the day (this panel-prompted session was captured
in 1969) it may lose some people, but it’s almost like an askew angle
on history. (And an angle on Agnew history too). My wife on listening to
this thought Rickles wasn’t being as caustic as she remembers, of course
that could also be a product of shifting mores. Rickles was uniquely
scandalous at this time. Still his delivery and his tone can often carry
the laughter, you just don’t hear people like this any more. Indeed, what
is wrong with “The Tonight Show” (I assume it is as deplorable as it was
ten+ years ago) is its *lack* of reckless Rickles-ness. Weak punch-lines
that arrive two weeks too late; no improv; no risk and most importantly
insults that are built upon the stupidity of the insultee, as opposed to
the cleverness of the insulter. It’s as if someone thought it was just
funny to call another person a hockey puck, without skillfully slapping
them around first! Play this and congratulate your listeners who laugh
on being alive, like the Merchant of Venom himself!

-Thurston Hunger

Hamburger, Neil – “Left for Dead in Malaysia ” – [Drag City]

What separates some stand-up schmuck from
the superstars of comedy? With the latter
you get a small glimpse of the ironic dark
wells of pain obscured by the limelight
and the laughter. Here, if you listen
carefully through the zingers, you can hear
the confession of a tortured man in a bad
suit…well, almost if Neil would quit
milkin’ your funny bone. Sure there’s one
or two klunkers here, as Neil deals with
the minor travails of the travelling comic-
the irate then awol manager, the interrup-
tion of the bar jukebox, the fact that the
audience doesn’t speak a lick o’ English…
but in the end, the great ones triumph. And
when Neil says, “Am I through?” You pray to
HBO he isn’t? The silence would hurt too
much. Fuck dentists, I’m a Hamburger Helper!
-Thurston Hunger

Hamburger, Neil – “Great Moments at Di Presa’s ” – [Drag City]

The combination of pizza and hamburger has always been so
promising, but ultimately unsatisfying…until NOW! Riding
the popular documentary craze, we get a snapshot of history
from the upper crust (“popular young President John F Kennedy
counts down the months until his tragic assassination”) to
the downright greasy, Roan O’Laird. To keep things dry if not
droll, there are moments of little misdirection (e.g. “He died
doing what he loved best…he shot himself in the head.”)
Olives the color of grief, sauce the color of blood, and
of course humor the color of a mirror…a broken one. There’s
a kaleidoscope of characters on this release wilting and
wonderful like the three-week old offerings at the salad bar.
But the comedy here is just as tasty as Di Presa’s pizza as
O’Laird proclaims…
“The food came in contact with love.
Too much love stains on the counter,
wiping rag drenched in love.”
Just as we’ve always suspected! Neil Hambrger *is* the
secret sauce and this is a sure bet, like the 1966 Superbowl.
-Thurston Hunger
Dirty moments – #1, #6, #8, #9
PS Is that New Session Person Ken Griffin guesting on organ?

Southern, Terry – “Give Me Your Hump! ” – [Koch Audium]

A hard call between spoken word and Comedy, but I think Southern would have wanted to be in that category. He was a contemporary of W.S. Burroughs, Lenny Bruce and the Beats of the late 1950s, but he was also a major influence on the young writers of the National Lampoon generation. His writing included “Candy,” “The Magic Christian,” and the screenplays for “Barbarella,” “Dr. Strangelove” and “Easy Rider.” among many others. This recording is a collection of some of his readings and comedy productions, done by him and his friends (including Michael O’Donoghue and Martin Mull.) Not everything is a real winner, as satire & “black comedy” can be a very fine edged sword. Terry Southern died in 1995 at the age of 71 after a long spell of not doing too much…
MOST OF THIS HAS TONS OF “BAD LANGUAGE & PRURIENT CONTENT” AND CANNOT BE PLAYED DURING THE 6AM-10PM TIME PERIOD. PERIOD!!!!!!
*review by Studebaker Hawk

Green, Bernie & Stero Madmen – “Musically Mad ” – [Bmg Spain]

Back in 1958 Mad Magazine was not as juvenile as it is now – adults could read it without too much shame. From time to time the magazine produced recordings, this was their first attempt. With a studio orchestra led by Bernie Green, a TV and movie soundtrack writer/conductor plus the very dry humor of Henry Morgan on some tracks, this is a very mixed bag of trash. Nowhere near as funny as earlier Spike Jones or the Hoffnung festivals recorded in the late 1950s (or PDQ Bach later on,) but for it’s time I guess it is OK stuff. Apply to Affected Areas, Close Cover Before Striking and RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!
(I don’t think this is an authorized in USA issue – there is no mention of it on the official Mad Magazine website…) *review by Studebaker Hawk