Customer Reviews

Jean Shepherd and Other Foibles

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Maybe I'm in a minority, but this disc really left me flat. While it had its clever moments, I found the presentation to be rather stagey, almost hoakey, like Shep wrote out his bits verbatim and gave them to Mister Rogers to read. Where's the inspired downtown 1950s hip ad libbing and quirkiness? You'll see what I mean if you compare this disc to the other Shep album that's been reissued on CD "Will Failure Spoil." That's the one to get.

Jean Shepherd was a radio genius, but you won't hear that here.

A big part of what made this album such a hit in 1959 -- the timeliness of Shepherd's social commentary -- is unfortunately so far gone now that you need to either have lived during that era or be able to mentally put yourself in that time period to even "get" half of his humorous references. If you listen to this with an ear for that period, though, you'll definitely find some laughs here.

Don't misunderstand...I'm not saying that Shep isn't funny. He was and is. It's just that times have changed SO much since then that skits like "Judson-6," "For Men Only," and "Controversial/Non-Controversial" come across like listening to your grandfather tell a funny story about getting his tie caught in a pie compartment at the Automat. The humor is off-set somewhat by the number of questions you have to ask just to understand the story.

"Peter Pain," too, is almost funny, but because it's such an old and unrecognized advertising character, I'm not sure WHICH parts are being exagerated for humorous effect -- and I've been in advertising for over two decades.

On the other hand, "The Fun Funeral," "Fellow Americans," and "The Human Comedy" are comparatively timeless...although "The Human Comedy" gets old VERY fast. In part, that's because by now a lot of comedians have done material like Shepherd's. This unfairly paints his work as sounding a touch hackneyed, even though it was actually Shepherd who did it first.

All in all, this album will be enjoyed a lot more by avid fans of Shepherd's, who are able to put it in the context of the late 1950s, than by someone newly exposed to his humor. But if you are new to it, give him a chance -- read and listen to this and several other of Shep's works before you judge him. He's worth the effort.