Comedy Death Ray

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 11, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Comedy Central Rec.
• ASIN: B000UE64T2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,756 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

LA's premier comedy show features both veteran stand-up comics as well as new talent every Tuesday night at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Taped during their fourth anniversary all-night show, and in San Francisco during the Comedy Death Ray special SF Sketchfest show, this double CD showcases almost 150 minutes of the best comedians performing today. Includes performances by David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, Neil Hamburger, Maria Bamford, Brian Poseihn, Reno 911, Doug Benson, Todd Glass, Hard 'N' Phirm, and many more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid pick up for any fan of comedy, June 1, 2010

By 

Lawson Leong (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comedy Death Ray (Audio CD)

I'd like to say overall I'd give the CD a 3.5, but Amazon won't let me do that. I'll break it down by each act.

5 star acts (The stars of the show)
Paul F. Thompkins- Starts off the CD and is arguably the best thing on it. I'm very happy he gets 16:30 on the CD. His bit about Freddy Krueger bit had me in tears. His set on here made me go out and buy his CDs, Impersonal and Freak Wharf.

David Cross- David Cross starts very strong and even the bit about his dog, while a bit out of character for him, is well thought out.

Patton Oswalt- Not surprisingly, Patton delivers 6 minutes of gold. Him and Paul are my two favorites on the CD.

4 star acts (The guys that do pretty good)
Doug Benson- He does talk about pot quite a bit, but he is quite funny. His McGriddles bit makes the set 4 stars.

Maria Bamford- I will admit I am not a fan of Maria's. But, a lot of her best bits that I've heard are on this CD. Yes she does the voices and yes she acts kinda weird, but her bit about breaking up is great.

Ian Edwards- My favorite of the 4 stars, and my favorite set from a comic I had never heard of. Also I believe the only black comic on the CD. His bit about Shark attacks is his bread and butter.

Nick Thune- I would give Nick a high 3 if I could. He plays the guitar and does one-liners, similar to Demetri Martin and others before him. It's hit and miss, to be honest. But enough hit for me to enjoy listening to him again.

Mindy Kaling- The only female comic and one of my favs on the CD. Her middle bit is eh, but her first and last jokes are gold.

Dan Mintz- He's a one liner comic with an odd inflection in his voice. Starts off very strong, fades a bit towards the middle and end. He's a guy that could've had a couple minutes cut out in order for Patton to have more time. But since he only does 4, he gets a "good job" from me.

3 star acts (Not bad, but not memorable)
Todd Glass- I'm not really a fan of Todd's. He has a couple of funny bits, but he's given 14 minutes and he doesn't do it nearly as well as Thompkins.

Hard N Phirm- They begin by mocking Vaudeville, which is fine, and then they go into a song. I considered putting them in the 4 star section for conceptual ingenuity, but I didn't laugh enough during their set to put them up there.

Jimmy Pardo- Another I was going to put in the 4 star category, Jimmy discovers at the beginning of his portion that there is a 15 year old in the audience. Crowd interaction ensues. He only really tells one joke, and it is good. But he OD's on the crowd work.

Scott Aukerman- everyday stand up concepts done in an average way.

Chris Hardwick- also, everyday stand up concepts done in an average way. I honestly have listened to the CD 4 times and can't tell their sets apart.

Andy Daly- Conceptually great, another I almost put up in the 4 star range but couldn't. He basically deconstructs what a lot of comedians try to do to get their point across. But that's all he does. he probably should've gotten a little more of his routine put in.

Reno 911- Funny, but predictable and sort of trying too hard to be genuinely hilarious.

2 star act
Brian Posehn- I like Brian, but this CD does not show him in a great light. Weak material, basically.

1 star act
Neil hamburger- I don't know if there are Neil fans out there who will go, "You don't get what he does." You're right, I don't. One good Terri Schiavo joke, it's actually one of the best jokes on the whole CD, but the other 11 minutes are boring and predictable. We could've given some of those to Patton.


Still you might not agree with all of my ratings, but if you are a fan of stand up I guarantee you will like Paul F Thompkins, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, ian Edwards and Mindy Kaling. And who knows, you might find some others you like even more than them.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great compilation for a great price, March 10, 2011

By 

Kevin B. Leonard (Orland Hills, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comedy Death Ray (Audio CD)

As the title says, this is a great compilation, full of a lot of great comedians/groups. Skip over the Doug Benson and Maria Bamford tracks, and you'll be in business!

5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stop It! You're Killing Me!, June 18, 2009

By 

Mark Eremite "This Is A Display Model Only" (Seoul, South Korea) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comedy Death Ray (Audio CD)

Since this is a compliation of a lot of different acts, this isn't as consistent as most comedy CDs, but that also means there's bound to be something here that most people will chuckle at. Humor is, of course, relative, so below I explain what made me laugh and why.

FIVE STAR ACTS:
--Hard N' Phirm's offensive vaudville jokes (and the harmonica accompaniment) are cheesy and hilarious at the same time.
--Patton Oswald's take on KFC and "punch-up" sessions for movie scripts is dark but remarkably witty.
--Paul F. Tompkins' observations on celebrities and celebrity impersonators is low-brow humor with a fun, high-brow delivery.

FOUR STAR ACTS:
--Chris Hardwick has some great riffs on the Twilight Zone and distressed jeans. He does go on and on about the farmbelt in America and its surplus of corn. Having grown up around corn farms, this part I found kinda boring.
--David Cross has an hilarious bit on porn and S&M paraphenalia, but when he goes off about his retarded dog, it goes from acerbic to just selfish and mean.
--Doug Benson is a pothead, and like most potheads he has some funny observations (mostly about the munchies) but, again, like most potheads, he talks a bit too much about pot.
--Mindy Kaling of The Office has a short, short bit on illegally downloading movies and using the word "retarded." Funny, but so short and casual it doesn't leave a strong impression.
--Nick Thune is one of those comedians who plays light guitar music behind his various jokes which, it turns out, are mostly just silly puns.
--The boys from Reno 911! sing a song about methamphetamines and do a routine that comedy writers might find hilarious, but which regular joes will probably just smirk at.

THREE STAR ACTS:
--Ian Edwards has two funny jokes (about shark attacks and mixed race children) that he stretches out to about 8 minutes.
--Neil Hamburger does his usual routine. If you don't know what that is, he mugs it up with a wheezing and gravelly delivery and has nothing in his bag but tons of cheesy celebrity jokes.
--Scott Aukerman's bits on bathroom fresheners and vague commercials are solid, easily forgettable material. I've listened to this album three times, and his is the only routine I can't ever manage to remember.
--Todd Glass does fourteen minutes of standard comedy. When a TV show makes fun your cheesy, stereotypical comedy act, they put on something resembling this guy's set-up. By-the-books jokes, and uncreative topics.

TWO STAR ACTS:
--Andy Daly's meaningless comedy routine is a clever idea that's well done, but which should've lasted maybe forty seconds instead of four minutes.
--I'm a big fan of Brian Posehn's television work, but his sex-obsessed bit sounds more desperate than funny.
--Dan Mintz has a few good jokes, but his delivery is shaky and uneven. He sounds like he's a) scared to death and b) making the jokes up as he goes along.
--Jimmy Pardo is a charismatic and funny fellow. Unfortunately, about 80% of his 11 minutes is spent bantering with the crowd (especially a 15 year-old kid named Ethan). A lot of fun for the crowd, but it doesn't translate well over headphones.
--Maria Bamford seems to rely almost exclusively on making funny faces (which you can't see) and using funny voices (that make it hard to understand what she's saying). She's got one of the longest bits on the album, and by the time it was done I found it painful and annoying.