Customer Reviews

Fart & Wiener Jokes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brian Posehn's Fart and Wiener Jokes has content and joke structure that is similar to his previous album, Nerd Rage. Thus, the routine doesn't come off as particularly fresh. Yet where Rage ultimately loses steam, this album is tighter and a bit more polished. The album title might suggest that the routine is wall-to-wall juvenilia, and much of it is. But Posehn has an affable stage presence that allows him to get away with dirty jokes that other comics may not even try. One joke consists of trying to conceive of a way that can negate a homosexual act and then ultimately failing at convincing anyone in the room (including Posehn himself) that he's actually made a good argument. I don't think a lot of comics could do that joke as well as Posehn. Sure, Posehn may laugh a bit too much at his own humor, but he's not trying to reinvent comedy, at least not with this album. He's trying to give people another good nerd comedy routine to listen to. The homage-to-metal songs at the end of the album are not my thing, but doing a metal version of Kenny Roger's "The Gambler" has to be rather unique.

When I found out Brian Posehn had a new album out, I got it as soon as possible. I'm a huge fan of comedy like David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, and of course Brian Posehn.
But when I put it on, I was hit over and over with old jokes. Posehn currently only has one other release, so I checked that. Yep, several bits are lifted directly from Live In: Nerd Rage.

I don't recommend this album for anyone who has the previous album. I am disappointed that any comedian would release so much old material.

Getting subjective, the album isn't as funny as his debut. The majority of the act is obviously old, so he flies right through it with less timing and emphasis than I'd like to hear.

For two reasons:

1. Not so funny. This is the second album I've bought from Posehn, and the only reason I bought this one is because I know the guy hangs out with Patton Oswalt, and I was hoping some of the latter's nerdy comedic genius would rub off on the former. No such luck. I didn't find this funny or inventive.

2. Another problem is that if you decide to get this, you should get the DVD. In more than a couple of places, Posehn is being physical in a way you can't get from just the audio, leaving you to wonder what everybody's laughing at. With Oswalt, virtually nothing is lost by hearing just the audio, but that is not the case with Posehn.

This album contains mainly brand new material from one of the best comics working, few comedians are more respected and liked within the comedy community like Posehn, this is a must for fans! If you are searching for a mainstream safe comic this may not be for you, but if you prefer your laughs with a little honesty and edge, this album is more for you.
If you are unfamiliar with Posehn, this album is in the vein of Patton Oswalt, Doug Benson, Greg Proops, Todd Barry, Louis CK, and David Cross, etc.

I like Brian Posehn. I think he's hilarious in fact. I've seen him live and I've watched him on numerous talk shows where he always upstages the first guest. But this album is simply not funny. The energy from him just feels lazy. He just stumbles through his jokes, many which can be heard on his previous album with a better delivery. He sounds amateur here, and that's what was so shocking. He wasn't fluent at all. He had virtually no rhythm. He paused a lot (And not for laughter) and he would consistently chuckle at the details of his jokes before he even told them. I got the feeling he was high.

The poor delivery and structure is just one aspect though. His jokes were simply unfunny and not at all clever as one would expect. Many of his jokes relied on long setups, which would be fine had he not stumbled through every tale as though he made them up on the spot. To add insult to injury, the punchline/payoff never had any impact. Even the live audience members weren't reacting. I honestly felt bad. He also relied on yelling and repeating the punchline to get a laugh. As you'll hear from the audiences quiet reaction, yelling doesn't make it funny.

If you're a self proclaimed nerd, perhaps you'll get more out of it. I love this stuff, and love Brians first album "Nerd Rage", but as such I was very disappointed with this. One of the more cringe worthy and pathetic jokes almost made me turn off the CD. After a long set up about Star Wars and self pleasuring, which was sprinkled in self congratulatory laughter, his big punchline was "but my d!@k didn't make a bad prequel...(No laughs) like...the Star Wars prequels." I believe only one guy laughed. This joke could have been funny in '99 when the film first came out, but now? I think we've all moved on Brian.

Don't waste your money. I did, and I wish I hadn't. Buy his first album or see him live instead.

after two full length stand up albums, several comedy specials and appearances in several excellent comedy documentaries, i've come to the conclusion that i'm more of a fan of the idea of brian posehn than i actually am a fan of brian posehn... his stand up, anyways...

being a somewhat nerdy, horror-loving, comic-book reading, alternative comedy fan myself, you'd think a guy like posehn would be right up my alley. unfortunately, i found myself stumped, bored and in some cases just shaking my head as i worked my way though 'fart and wiener jokes.'

there are three things that really stand out to me in regards to posehn's comedy: 1.) he tries to interject humor in to stories that aren't all that funny to begin with (his bit on itunes comes to mind). 2.) some of his bits tend to run a little long when compared to the eventual payoff. after a two or three minute build up, i would hope the punchline can at least get a bigger reaction than a smirk from me ('bachelor party' for example). 3.) the last thing that bothers me, and i'll admit that this is probably a pretty trivial complaint, is his ridiculous use of slang. a dude in his 40s using words like 'dong' and 'va-jay'? ugh. i know it's probably meant to soften some of his material but it just sounds moronic.

i actually feel bad writing this review... because i'm probably being harder on him than i should. there is some funny material on here ('where do i know this guy from?', 'increase your loads') but the big laughs come few and far between. it might just be my skewed opinion, but to me it feels the audience on the disc feels the same way. it just sounds like there's a lot of forced laughter.

as for the two songs, i find them completely unnecessary. while 'more metal than you' contains some funny lines, posehn's impersonation of a metal singer is just awful. i only listened to about a minute of 'the gambler' before taking the disc out of my player.

i'm sure posehn's an awesome guy to hang out with and a lot of his t.v. and film work is excellent, but his stand up is very, very average.