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Last Active 02-25-23 11:02 pm
Joined 06-18-13
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| A Soundoff-y Writeup I Made About A Doug Stanhope Album On /mu/
As part of one of their Daily Discussion Thread "album-per-day" shindigs, which I've already
fallen behind on after two days | | 1 | | Doug Stanhope
Something to Take The Edge Off
This album captures Stanhope at his most reserved in terms of edgy material (even by 2000 standards),
as well as his least snappy in terms of delivery. As someone only familiar with all the superior DVDs and
albums that followed this, it's a bit disheartening to find that Doug is very much a fine wine that has
taken many years to hone his skills to become the legendary and politically astute comic he is today,
rather than striking gold in the prime of his youth | | 2 | |
That said, at its core, it's the same charming and raunchy Stanhope formula you've hopefully come love,
just diluted. Topics explored are the usual suspects: the police are dicks, non-alcoholics are sheltered
fundies, women have one use, minorities are wacky, and so on. Yet there's still a reasonable amount to
enjoy on here (your mileage varying based on how you like your comedy of course). When all is said and
done, you'll probably leave "Something to Take the Edge Off" with a smirk, if only because Stanhope has
and always will be one of the most relatable and personal douchebags in all of stand-up comedy, and his
rockstar-esque tales of going down on every fanny, snorting every line and offending every parent never
fail to raise a smile from the unapologetic nature of his attitude and delivery. | | 3 | |
BUT, there's one thing that brings the whole shindig down a few notches: Stanhope's decision to have an
acoustic guitarist performing over him throughout the show, as he relays the jokes and banter. Simply
put, the guy is unnecessary, gets in the way of the comedy with his playing being way too loud to not be
background music, and feels like a forced replication of Mitch Hedberg having a bassist on his first CD. At
times he even plays melancholic melodies when Doug is talking about suicide and childhood, turning
what would otherwise be amusingly dry bits into distressingly sentimental u-turns in tone. He doesn't
bring the whole show crashing down, but he's certainly a factor in why the album holds little of a candle
to its successors in terms of originality and stage presence. | | 4 | |
3/5 | |
Froot
12.03.14 | because this site isn't as cool as RYM and doesn't let you rate standup comedy albums |
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