Customer Reviews

Shut Up, You Fucking Baby! [Vinyl]

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

If you dig HBO's Mr. Show you'll likely enjoy this more bitter cup of tea. This is intelligent, insightful, angry social satire comedy a la George Carlin, Dennis Miller, and Bill Hicks. IMO these sets most resemble, in tone and style, Bill Hicks' later albums 'Arizona Bay' and, in particular, 'Rant In E Minor'.

Here, Cross has a more free-form rambling style than in his HBO special that occasionally dips into a self-indulgent one man show vibe. There's also a shrill cynicism that can be draining at times. However, these sets weren't performed in traditional comedy venues. Nor do I think it was intended for these to be anything less than what they appear to be, for in the liner notes Cross lets listeners know what to expect.

Two CDs makes for a lot of material and a lot of laughter. David Cross is extremely funny and right on target with much of his comedy. This album is welcome relief and counterpoint to the backwash of banal comedy and infotainment news pumped out by the mass media these days. Pointed commentary and brutal honesty about uncomfortable truths is what great social satire is all about. But as a professional stand-up comedian and fan of comedy I'm probably more than a bit biased. The tea may be bitter, but chances are you'll be doing a Danny Thomas spit take from lauging so hard.

Keep up the good work.

Right-wingers tend to hate David Cross, and even left-wingers can find themselves shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Cross is an angry comedian whose material is wrapped in bitter irony and social commentary. For starters, the track names on this CD are comments on the sad, sanitized state of standup comedy -- he satirized standups by using every tired, cliched comic topic he could include. He's not going to tell jokes about airplanes or the difference between men and women or whatever. That's just the beginning. Cross is insightful, loud, brash, and brave enough to point out inconsistencies in America, Judaism, Catholicism, and patriotism while most other comedians are busy talking about their wives or whatever homogenized, unoffensive, boring material Comedy Central allows. Sure, David Cross makes fun of southerners. Well, guess what, he's from Atlanta, so he can speak from experience. And besides, what southern comedian doesn't make fun of Yankees? It's nice to have a twist once in a while. Sure, David Cross makes fun of Southern Baptists, but didn't Lenny Bruce pick on Pentacostals thirty-five years ago? Didn't Sam Kinison make fun of the Pope? Doesn't Ben Stiller make jokes about Jews and Christians? Didn't Bill Hicks make fun of Republicans? Doesn't Dennis Miller make fun of Democrats now? Cross is merely following the path established by his bravest predecessors -- these comedians pull no punches and take risks to talk about what they really believe in (go figure, you can still do that in America). This album is not perfect, with a couple of stretches of rambling during which I wanted to fast-forward, but overall this is a solid comedy album. Cross rants and preaches and puts on his best Bill Hicks/Henry Rollins rendition, for lack of a better descriptor. If you enjoy comedy based in social satire and political commentary, as the late Bill Hicks used to do and Lewis Black and Henry Rollins currently do, then this is a great buy. However, if you prefer the blue, barroom "low-brow" humor of Rodney Carrington, or the clean, family humor of Bill Cosby, then David Cross might not be your cup of tea. David Cross' remarks will offend most right-wingers and even a few left-wingers, so buyer beware. Critical thinking and an open mind are required. David Cross will not dumb his act down or sanitize himself, and that's worthy of respect. Bottom line: if you are uncomfortable having your ideas challenged or don't want to risk being offended by a fellow American who thinks differently and isn't afraid to speak up, I suggest saving your money and sticking with what you already enjoy. Freedom is great like that.

If you've never seen Mr. Show, buy the DVD now. I mean, stop reading this review and type Mr. Show into the search box.

This CD is spit-milk-through-your-nose funny. Cross's targets are rednecks, George W. Bush, and [more] but his real hatred is reserved for stupidity in all its myriad forms, eg: putting an American flag on your Lexus SUV.

My favorite quote so far is on the support for GWB after 9/11. "We treat him like he just won third place in the Special Olympics. Good boy, George!"

David Cross is well known. Sort of.

I usually remind others about him through movies like "Pootie Tang" and "Scary Movie 2". These movies have their funny parts, but they kind of mask the person that is David Cross. He started his career with standup, as a teenager. He's been a wonderfully insightful and funny comedian for over two decades, and this CD set is one of the best comedy albums of all time.

The CD set itself is very adventurous. A two CD standup set from almost any other comedian would seen overblown and pretentious, and you have to give it to David for having the balls to not cut this tour's material down to one disc. It's long, yes, but it doesn't wear out its welcome, and Mr. Cross tackles so many topics that nearly everyone is to find something they love (and maybe even hate) in this set.

He discusses his childhood; growing up in Roswell Georgia ("the whitest place in America"), and how his Jewish family was treated by locals, that "for a lack of a better term" are called Southern Baptist. He also discusses 9/11 (he lived, and still does, in NYC), and the effect it had on America in the way of crass commercialization ("have flags grafted on the inside of your eyelids so that at all times you have flags!") and neurotic patriotism.

The two best tracks are at the end of the second disc, where he discusses at length a drunken ordeal with the band Harlow, preceded by a mockery of rambunctious radio DJ's, and the track after, which discusses "the Promise Keepers" and their writings about events that "you know never happened".

[...] I'm only kidding.

There's very little wrong with this set, and the length of the tracks is not a problem. David has a great ability of building up tension and timing his jokes with great precision (any comedian will tell you that timing is a comedians most powerful tool). And while he says the "F-word" an awful lot, he uses it in such careful ways, as to punctuate an emotion he's feeling that may have not come through during the tension building I mentioned above. A parallel could almost be made here with Richard Pryor and the word "nigger"; something he struggled to get over in his childhood, and finally added to his arsenal, bringing about a revolution in comedy.

Today, there are hundreds of mediocre one-trick-pony comedians that work clubs day and night pulling out dick jokes (think of who Bill Hicks used to make fun of) and clever commentary on racism. This has been done a thousand times, but David Cross (along with others who I plan to review) gives us something more to think about; he brings issues to the front (once again, as Hicks did, but not to that extent) while providing great, hilarious examples of real life experiences using a great (and funny sounding) speaking voice.

These two discs are pricless to me- my friends and I still quote them all the time. The issues are also still relevant, and the discs require more than one listen to fully appreciate (there is alot of material here, after all). I really can't recommend any other working comedian over David Cross.

"I don't care if you've been in a [...] shark attack!"

i've owned this album for quite a while now, and was looking for some other comedy album to purchase, and saw the average "star" rating for this when looking for my new purchase. it was kind of surprising given the usual 4-5 star ratings for almost every cd on here no matter the quality or genre, but when i scrolled through some of the reviews i noticed for whatever reason some folks gave this 1 star. my question to those people are, why did you buy this then? how did these people even stumble across david cross in the first place and have the time to waste to post the review? i saw one person had even reviewed this album with 1 star because they saw a clip of cross' on youtube? now how much sense does that make? just because you believe something doesn't make it true, so take it easy and let the rest of us think for ourselves. to those people i say grow up, expand your horizons, and relax- it's comedy.

as far as the album goes, it is pure hilariousness. david cross is not afraid to say how he feels, what he thinks, and does not care who is offended. if you can't appreciate that, then this album won't be for you. if you like to laugh, and aren't afraid to hear something a little thought-provoking and different from what you may be used to being saturated with, then i couldn't recommend this cd more. i have listened to this album in its entirety countless times, and its still as funny as the first time i heard it. and to give you a little perspective, i usually lean a little more to the right-wing side of things, but am certainly no religious freak. this is what comedy is supposed to be- take it or leave it.

Here's a thought . . .

I've read a lot of the reviews for this album(s). And I must say . . . First of all everyone who bought this because they liked him on Just Shoot Me or Scary Movie 2 . . well if you don't like it that is your own fault for not doing your research. Same for those who are religious, republican, or easily offended. Its called "Don't buy things you don't know about".

Now. As for all of you who call the delivery on these albums "amateurish". First of all . . .he's not an amatuer by any means. He's been in "the biz" longer than I've been alive. And clearly, if he did not intend for his listeners to hear every "uh", "uhm", or "whatever", then guess what! They wouldn't be on there! So the "amatuer" argument has no basis.

So here's my review:

Buy this album if you want to open your mind. And that could mean on any topic including religion, politics, human nature, and everything in between.

Maybe also it will open your mind to the very idea of what a comedy album can be.

Like the pre-packaged, heavily edited, and condensed mainstream sort of comedy album? Don't buy this.

Appreciate the intimacy of the conversations you have with your friends over way-too-many drinks at three in the morning? Then this is the album for you.

I really like David Cross. I appreciate the kind of comedy he does: social commentary in the vein of Bill Hicks or Lenny Bruce. It pleases me that someone has decided to eschew the Blue Collar comedy bits that his track titles suggest and try to come up with something a little bit thoughtful.

Aside from picking a style that I enjoy, David just doesn't produce the laughs very well on this performance. Someone allowed him to have an almost unlimited time frame for doing his act and it suffers for that. I think that if he truncated his bits, simplified them to mostly joke instead of mostly garbled delivery, then he could have something great. His HBO special provides a most salient example of that theory--shorter time equaled better material. When under time constraints it forced self-consciousness on him, resulting in less "ums" and "uhs" that so ruin his pieces and dwindle the patience of the listener.

Now, I will admit, this CD contains some great comedy. Unfortunately, one has to wait until the second CD to enjoy the best of it. During the first CD he frequently takes topics that seem to promise a few laughs but end up running over themselves and wearing out their welcome before the punch line even comes out. On the first disc, I rather like the part about Jewish people and LA, although some maundering slightly hurts those tracks. After he finishes talking about 9/11 the material gets kind of cringe-worthy. The gay voice thing works since he has a talent for impressions, but not as long as he does it. Then, the redneck thing where he goes on and on about a can of worms and does his Ricky Henderson piece pains me to listen to. Not funny. David must learn to edit himself when it comes to pieces like this. When he starts to spew verbose, overwrought screeds it feels like listening to someone trying too hard; in the process of trying to expand a joke he makes the ending of the piece the only memorable part.

Despite the occasional problems he has with comedic timing and delivery and length, his observations are usually right on. The second disc, where he talks about the Bush administration and religion really work well. His piece about his Kansas City adventures don't do much to help the disc, but when he critiques the promise makers or any other piece of writing or advertising, I love it. When it works, his comedy has a nice air of sardonic optimism to it always nice to hear from a comedian.

Not an entirely bad CD. It has a lot of positive aspects, but the bad parts produce more than minor quibbles and cannot get overlooked. I'd recommend taking a listen to the second disc and, if you really like it, summon up some patience and sift through the first disc. Maybe on his future releases editing will get more importance.

Not that I will ever complain about hearing David Cross live, but if the sharpest material from this 2 disc set were winnowed down to just one disc, that disc would be a grand slam home run. Instead, we get a few grounders interspersed throughout and the set loses some of its necessary tightness.

His rants on the Bible, the Catholic Church, and other religion topics are not to be missed. And he is no fan of Dubya, I can promise you that.

At its worst it is mildly entertaining, but at its best it is tears-inducingly funny.

Interesting part: the titles of the track listings have absolutely NOTHING to do with the material on the tracks. Either that is a clever joke from David, a horrible proofreading or editing mistake, or I have a faulty pressing. If it is the first of those three, then I appreciate David's humor even more now.

This should be required listening for every bible-beating, flag-waving, Olive Garden-eating, O'Reilly Factor-watching, SUV-driving moron in America. But like most brilliant things, the very people who would benefit the most (and by "benefit the most" I of course mean "become more enlightened, unpatriotic, and cool like me") from seeing/reading/hearing it won't ever know it exists (or if they do, they'll simply smile in that creepy way, shake their fat heads, and say that they'll pray for David Cross). Makes me sick just thinking about it. Anyway, do yourself a favor and buy this album before John Ashcroft bans it in the name of Jesus...

In a time where even George Carlin backed off his normal "world is gonna end and who cares" stance to fire off some self-conscious fart jokes at al Queda, it is refreshing to hear David Cross' relentless and unrepentant Bush-ripping: "He's still the idiot he was on September 10. Of course he bombed Afghanistan... Nader would have bombed Afghanistan! Bush is only doing the job we didn't elect him to do!" Cross' take-no-prisoners attack serves him well on bits about Rumsfeld, the Catholic Church, mindless patriotism and Promise Keepers. Cross, in his liner notes, remarks that he doesn't so much do stand-up as attacks every performance freeform, like a drunk guy at a party. This is very evident on this disc, and bears both the positives and negatives that "drunk guy at a party" suggests. Amusing, insightful at first; by the end of Disc Two, yeh, I sorta want him out of my house.