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| Chelsea Peretti |
Every year, there's a great plethora of comedy albums that come out. While it is rare that one enters the cultural zeitgeist immediately, it shouldn't diminish the value in which these albums are treated. Some are full of cultural insight while some are just downright funny and juvenile. The following is a look at 15 great albums from 2014 that you likely have heard (or missed) and are worth remembering. For the sake of argument, I include comedy specials releases and album releases. While this means that some performances are considered two years in a row, I do my best not to include them multiple times.
1. Chris Gethard - "My Comedy Album"
While I am not that familiar with The Chris Gethard Show, I am not an adamant fan of the comedian because of a singular reason: "My Comedy Album." Don't let the bland name fool you. There is so much going on in his debut that is worthy of consumption. Beyond his self-effacing style, he also is a gifted story teller who talks about having Alan Rickman watching him have sex, the problematic commercials played during I Survived. He also has great zingers such as "Sex feels better than Less Than Jake sounds." He is confident and profound in equal doses while making the narrative format into something of an art form. He is the nerdy, caustic equivalence of Bill Cosby at his stand-up best. Good luck trying to listen to this only once.
2. Marc Maron - "Thinky Pain"
Clocking in at 90 minutes, there's a lot to consume from the mind of one of the most frustrated and brilliant comics currently working. Everything is discussed in a special that takes his stream of consciousness to new heights from sports to sex and even literature and music. While it plays more like a collection of hits, they are quite insightful and unique in ways that has proven how he has grown as a therapeutic voice for those frustrated with life. If his podcast is too much for you, then this is a perfect accessible dose of everything he stands for in one shiny package.
3. Hannibal Buress - "Live From Chicago"
It has been a banner year for Hannibal. He has a regular role on the great Broad City and was a highlight of Neighbors. There's a lot of other controversial issues that prove just how willing he is to push buttons. With this album, he perfectly manages to cover a lot of questionable topics from taking drugs to eating penguins and spin them into punchlines with hilarious results. He may be at times too absurd, but there's a perverse joy that comes with his best moments. If you think he is funny as an actor, then you'll be surprised how much better he is as an unfettered comedian whose given room to say whatever he wants. It is unpredictably great results.
4. Nick Thune - "Folk Hero"
Who says that you can't play a guitar and be funny at the same time? True, there are parody artists who play songs, but only Nick Thune manages to do something exciting with the medium. He tells jokes while playing, only occasionally breaking out into song. The results come across as a beat poet trying to make up jokes as he goes. Thankfully, he does so in a fashion that is mostly clean while touching on subjects that juxtapose awfulness with good intentions. As the title suggests, his folk style is the charm to his work, but it isn't the only reason that he is a unique and promising voice.
5. Morgan Murphy - "Irish Goodbye"
The easiest comparison point for Morgan Murphy's style is deadpan geniuses like Laraine Newman. In this album, she may manages to go through a series of topics all while sounding bored yet informed. From questioning oral sex to getting e-mails from Planned Parenthood, her work is some of the strongest work done by a female comedian this year. She may seem underwhelming at points, but it only allows the absurdity to sound more normal and thus funny. As a result, this album may not seem as great as it actually is. After a few listens, the charm will begin to make sense and you'll get why Murphy's style is so infectious.
6. Dr. Katz - "Dr. Katz Live"
The cult hit show Dr. Katz has long been a comedy favorite for fans of therapeutic comedy. In this special, it takes the structure of an average episode and turns it into a live show. With guests such as Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman stopping by, the absurdity is continually present and the subdued nature of Dr. Katz is consistently funny. It is unfortunately one of the few albums on this list that works only as an entire piece and not individual segments. However, like the best episode, you'll be glad that you checked it out for all of the zingers, strange looks into people's heads and spending time with such a delightful cast of characters.
7. Wyatt Cenac - "Brooklyn"
One of the great albums of the past decade is Wyatt Cenac's "Comedy Person." It managed to combine the voice of an intelligent man with the discussion of pop culture and racism in new and fresh ways. Finally returning to the scene in "Brooklyn," he takes on a more thematic approach to the comedy while maintaining all of the brilliance. It may be isolating to audiences, as it talks predominantly of Brooklyn, NY culture, but it still manages to have everyday insight that makes him one of the most unique and desired voices every time he decides to pop up.
8. Patton Oswalt - "Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time"
Everyone's favorite pop culture referencing maestro returns with another really good stand-up album. As he gets older, he becomes more bitter about the world around him. From making fun of Florida to his parenting style, he is still an eccentric voice whose insight only continues to become enriched as time goes on. It may be nothing new in a lot of sense, but few performers have the charisma and prominence of Oswalt to make many of these jokes work. He may be old school at this point in comedy years, but he still drops nuggets of truth whenever he picks up the microphone, and that's something to be thankful for.
9. Myq Kaplan - "Small, Dork and Handsome"
The question isn't how he does his comedy but why does it work so well? For starters, Myq Kaplan's approach is to run through a series of topics in a manic progression, talking almost too fast for coherence. From there, he begins to add a philosophical bent to almost everything with dramatic pauses. It is a style that should be more loathsome than the actual payoff. Instead, he delivers one of the funnest comedy albums of the year with a style that continually engages the listener and drops some of the best asides of the year. He talks about everything and manages to make controversial subjects sound like momentary lapses in judgment. There's a lot to admire about the comedian in spite of a form that is kind of hard to explain as being good.
10. Cameron Esposito - "Same Sex Symbol"
Few albums of any given year feel like they are important to a greater conversation. The last time that a comedy album felt noteworthy was Tig Notaro's "Live." With Cameron Esposito's debut, there is a new important album. As the title suggests, this is an album almost entirely about being a lesbian in today's modern society. She may be too giddy at times, but her enthusiasm manages to make the overall discussion of sexuality into something of a funny, embracing art form. With a history of solid stories, Esposito manages to make every story feel significant and blows many taboos open regarding how society perceives gay culture. If nothing else, she is an infectious force of nature and one that is only going to become more prominent in the years to come. Still, no album regarding sexuality has felt this crucial to hear in quite some time.
11. Bob Odenkirk with Brandon Wardel - "Amateur Hour"
This was the hot topic debut of the year. Many eagerly awaited to see what longtime comedy veteran Bob Odenkirk would bring to the stand-up album world. In an odd twist, it is a collaboration of sorts with unknown comic Brandon Wardel. Whether this is indicative of him not having a lot of content or a great gimmick, it manages to work as the two share album space and deliver some of the most aloof comedy of the year. While neither set is particularly polished, they do bring a homely feel to their sets that make Odenkirk's style surprisingly amateurish. Not bad, considering that he has been a professional force since the early 90's with The Ben Stiller Show.
12. Doug Benson - "Gateway Doug 2: Forced Fun"
It is probably the most meta comedy album of the year. After last year's enjoyable "Gateway Doug," the Doug Loves Movies host came back with an album that was meant to feel like a retread of his last one. With recurring bits, he continues to push conceptual art through a stoner gaze in interesting ways. It is so meta that he even charged less for this album intentionally. It may be annoying to still see him doing The Dark Knight Rises impersonations, but he has earned a place as a pop culture enthusiast at this point to do whatever he wants. It may be an acquired taste thanks to his lazy delivery style, but for those that love his stoner culture mixed with movie references, there's plenty to admire, especially when consumed (ha) with the first album.
13. Sarah Silverman - "We Are Miracles"
The queen of shock comedy returns with an Emmy-winning routine (yes, I am aware that I wrote about this last year. However, it didn't make my list at the time, so it is eligible). Covering all sorts of taboo subjects including the tried and true race, religion and rape, she manages to make the low key nature of the performance into a highlight. What's more impressive is that while it feels more stripped down, it doesn't lack any of the theatrics that made her such a notable force in the past. It will shock and offend in all of the right ways, so get ready to laugh and question everything you've ever known.
14. Tracy Morgan - "Bona Fide"
It has been a rough year for Tracy Morgan. It is likely why I gave this album a second shot after initially dismissing it. The fact is that he is a larger than life personality with a lot of interesting things to say. He may sound buffoonish at times, but his commanding presence over the audience definitely makes him a voice worth listening to. From family to drugs and even Paula Deen, he manages to talk politics without ever sounding pretentious. He is vulnerable in discussion of his past and manages to make it hilarious in the process. If nothing else, this is an album worth listening to to understand why his unfortunate accident has taken away some brilliance from the world of comedy.
15. Hari Kondabolu - "Waiting for 2042"
The title stands for a joke within the album that talks about when whites will be the minority in America. The former Totally Biased personality makes his stand-up debut with a lot of the familiar fervor that made him such an enjoyable force on the TV series. He gets political, discusses racial topics with humor and even finds interesting analogies in the process. It may be divisive because of this, but for those that find his take on culture interesting, he is definitely worth checking out.
Other albums worth checking out:
Andy Kindler - "I Wish I Was Bitter"
Jackie Kashian - "This Will Make an Excellent Horcrux"
Maronzio Vance - "Laughmatic"
Dan Mintz - "The Stranger"
Neal Brennan - "Women and Black Dudes"
Weird Al - "Mandatory Fun"
Sklar Brothers - "What Are We Talking About"
Chelsea Peretti - "One of the Greats"
David Spade - "My Fake Problems"
Neil Hamburger - "First of Dismay"
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