Now safely settled back in the U.S., it’s time for Bengt Washburn, our pick for funniest Mormon (unless you count that whole Mitt Romney 47% business), to reflect on his time overseas with “Bengt Over in Europe.” In many ways, this, his fourth comedy CD, is a reflection on culture shock. On the idea that…
In the mirror, the truth is always closer than it seems: Yes, Bil Dwyer admits, he looks like an undercover cop (don’t worry—he’s just the drug-taster, and they rarely get to brutalize anyone). But looks don’t matter, because he’s been married since the 1990s. After a quarter century with the same spouse (none of that…
When Brendon Burns sets out to “Pompously Lecture[s] Americans,” he finds an introduction to his home country, Australia, is a bit indispensible. Global ignorance is not a good foundation for an argument or a good excuse for not getting a joke. So it’s time we all learn how the women of Melbourne sound like Ann…
Name-checking the likes of Sacajawea, Muhammad Yunus, and Dora the Explorer while keeping the Midwest on his sleeve by off-handedly referencing the traditional meat-raffle, Chad Daniels (no relation to Jack) means it when he says he s Busy Being Awesome. If that s not enough, he s even crafted the finest segue known to man:…
In life, there are questions we don’t want asked, questions we don’t want answered, and laundry we can’t watch others handle. Chad Daniels is a father, a husband, a comic, and a pragmatist. And from what he’s managed to absorb through some sort of marital osmosis (his wife’s a geneticist), Daniels is ready to revert…
Chad Daniels isn’t much help in an airport, but we’d already established that with his first CD, “Busy Being Awesome.” Now that he’s back with his second Stand Up! Records release, “You’re the Best,” well, it’s been confirmed. But we also learn that he’s got plenty of other talents to make up for it: he…
The Twin Cities’ own Chris Maddock, host of Stand Up! Records’ Death Comedy Jam for nearly a decade, red-faced winter-biker, devoted husband and probably-gonna-be-fine dad, and little brother to the confoundingly-named Linus, is about to give the Seventh Street Entry, First Avenue’s less-famous ‘round the way girl, its own Purple Rain. That’s right, we’re calling it:…
Chris Porter s first live performance DVD, Screaming from the Cosmos, might be misnamed. Instead of screaming, Porter rolls into his performance, a little closer to the cosmos with the help of some pre-show merriment. Oh yes, folks, he did inhale. Pot, for Porter, is like Tang for astronauts or steroids for Barry Bonds a…
Corey Adam’s first record, the Game of Rubber Chickens illustrated “No Joke,” took the path least traveled by showcasing only the asides, audience interactions, and nimble improv that more often makes the cutting room floor. Now, graduating to “Jokes,” Corey Adam is ready to reveal the polished bits: tattoo related masturbatory chagrin, posthumous exploitation, getting…
Corey Adam, a standard bearer in the Twin Cities comic scene for the last 8 years or so, told local alt magazine City Pages, “There s a stigma in the comedy community associated with crowd work, like it s a way to mask your deficiencies as a comic.” Luckily, “No Joke,” originally a Kickstarter-funded dream,…
Crowd work. Drunk management. Vamping. Heckler shutdowns. Bachelorette banter. Clapbacks. The rebuttal portion. Whatever you call it, when the crowd brings the noise, Corey Adam brings the ruckus. Corey Adam’s fans know he can handle himself on stage, and now superfans can revel in the outtakes with No Joke 2 (no boogaloo). Each track, carefully…
Comedy and music don’t always go together splendidly; more frequently, you get a one-off novelty act that’s funny once, but loses its charm quickly. Yes, you have your Tenacious D (comics turned musicians) and your John Prines (musicians with undeniable wit), but they’re the exception. So, too, are Courtney McClean & the Dirty Curls. These…
Yes, like any good Jeopardy! contestant, Amundson comes with a lot of questions and even more interesting trivia. For instance, did you know you can put stipulations in your will? Cy’s little brother Greg’s in for a great death prize if he can catch and eat a live pelican on demand! And what about where…
Far younger and far, far hipper than Jon Lovitz, stand-up stand-out Dan Naturman conjures an image of a feisty curmudgeon with his nimble, self-deprecating delivery, setting the tone by titling his first CD, out now from Stand Up! Records, Get Off My Property. That s right, he s got a shotgun in one hand and…
Stand Up! Records is proud to present the re-release of Dana Gould s first CD Funhouse. Recorded just prior to Gould s 7 year tenure as a writer and co-executive producer for The Simpsons, Funhouse catches a light and loose Gould galloping onstage for a romp through the joys of a working-class, Irish Catholic upbringing as…
Dana Gould may not be the smartest guy in the world, the most handsome guy in the world, or the funniest guy in the world. He’s got a dodgy genetic line, a lot of euphemisms for semen, and the general build of a giant condom full of walnuts. He’s only got two real emotions: rage…