Willie Barcena is a 20-year veteran in the world of stand-up comedy, and he is back with a one-hour Showtime special and stand-up comedy DVD called I Gotta Be Honest.This site’s primary reviewer published his review earlier this week and called this special “excellent” noting that there were only “two or so bad minutes” in the entire special.  While I agree that the bulk of the material was solid, I could not help but be frequently frustrated with Barcena’s almost ... More

Aloha, Fluffy by Gabriel Iglesias is a very enjoyable stand-up comedy performance. True, there are a couple of lesser moments such as the section about his relationship but overall this show is a lot of fun to watch. Iglesias occasionally swears so that might put those looking for family friendly stand-up off but it is nothing particularly noticeable unless you care about such things. Bonuses on this comedy Blu-ray include a sixteen-minute encore that includes a story about Fluffy's first ... More

Willie Barcena's one hour Showtime special and stand-up comedy DVD I Gotta Be Honest is excellent. Barcena immediately sets the tone with a solid bit about living to 85 or 100 and the laughs don't stop after that. The material on I Gotta Be Honest ranges from G to mostly R and sometimes Barcena goes from one extreme to the other in a second. Not many comics can get away with this constantly but this stand-up has the chops to ... More

Comedy Central is set to release Al Madrigal’s first one-hour special, Why is the Rabbit Crying?  It will air first on Comedy Central on April 26, 2013, followed by a combo CD/DVD on April 30th, 2013.I like Al Madrigal.  Always have.  I was a fan of his 2005 episode of Comedy Central Presents, his 2009 audio special Half-Breed, and I am a fan of his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  As such, I was ... More

Geoff Tate titled his first stand-up comedy MP3 album I Got Potential. He's got much more than that. Tate is one very funny comic and this is an excellent album that bears repeated listening, something I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. Tate does biographical and some observational material but stands out from most similar comics because of how carefully his stories are built. For example, “Vehicular” a story about drugs, Wal Mart, a pirate, and being ... More

Explosion Land by David Huntsberger is a superb, brilliant, excellent, extraordinary, wonderful, funny as hell, great, very intelligent, impressive, sublime stand-up comedy CD. It is the best comedy I have heard in the last three years if not more. In fact, if you get Explosion Land and are not happy with it, email me at editor @  nameofthiswebsite dot com and I will compensate with another comedy CD.Explosion Land is one long piece about evolution and creationism, the big bang, ... More

Kristen Schaal's Comedy Central special Live At The Fillmore was supposed to be an hour-long anti-comedy performance but it failed. This is the answer to the question  “Is the meltdown halfway in just another odd mix of performance art and comedy and so voluntary or is it real and consequently the show was a disaster.?” There are a few pre-show clues I believe indicate the meltdown is planned: Right before she goes on stage Schaal tells the camera “This is ... More

Shameless is a  very, very dark and brilliant comedy. It is the American adaptation of a British show that has so far lasted 11 seasons. The U.S. Version tells the story of the Gallagher family, poor white fold from South Side Chicago. Frank, the father (William H. Macy) is an alcoholic who is always thinking up one scheme or another for easy money or to freeload off somebody. His eldest daughter, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) is the glue that holds the ... More

Apple Pie & Scars is a very good and, I am almost convinced, clean stand-up comedy CD. There is not a bad moment here and though Matt Falk is not a profound comic, he certainly is very funny. I would not be surprised if it ended up on our top ten for 2013.  Get the MP3 album at AmazonThe CD opens with a rather facile observation on how when women talk about a problem they do not really want a ... More

The documentary “Alone Up There” by Sean Patrick Shaul is described as a “feature-length documentary that explores the contemporary culture of stand-up comedy.”  It is a 90-minute documentary available as a $5 download, and follows Shaul’s journey into understanding the world of stand-up comedy.The film opens with narration from Shaul in which he states that he has always been a huge fan of stand-up comedy and, as a documentary filmmaker, he wanted to explore that world through film.  I was ... More

based on a true story is a very good, almost excellent stand-up comedy CD and MP3 album. Dave Fulton is an American comic who has spent a good deal of time in England and has come back to the U.S to share what he has learned there and over the years. If you like intelligent, ascerbic stand-up you are going to very much enjoy this CD.  MP3 album at AmazonFulton has very varied material. Being a fan of long form ... More

Nate Craig Infinity is a very good stand-up comedy mp3 album. Craig is a biographical and observational comic whose bits usually last under two minutes. This means there are a lot of different ideas on this 55-minute album. There is not a weak moment in Infinity. At the same time, although some of the bits here are not your usual comedy fodder, it is hard overall to differentiate Craig from any other good comic with some adult material.Especially good on ... More