Another day, another comedian, and if Dan Levy's forays into run-on stories about overdosing on pot cookies pushes the limits of your tolerance in that line of comedy, then Doug Benson is really not for you. Here's a guy who, while not at Mitch Hedbergian levels of highness, manages to come across as stoned but witty. That's his schtick. Today we had the pleasure to listen through his latest comedy album Potty Mouth, and if you're so inclined you can pick it up as it went on sale as of August 29th. Reluctant to buy comedy albums? You're not the only one, so we'll give you a taste to help you decide.
It’s becoming increasingly common for comedians to bundle audio and video content in their CD releases, because let’s face it: music album sales have been on a steady decline for years, and if music sales are suffering then comedy album sales are in dire straits. So if you can do something to boost the appeal of a 53-minute comedy CD, why wouldn’t you? Doug Benson did. He paired his comedy album with episodes from his short little show The Benson Interruption, and it’s a pretty great extra, because even if you’re not a huge fan of Benson after listening to the album, chances are you will be a fan of quite a few of the comedians who appear in his show.
I shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with Super High Me, Benson’s half-assed investigation into the effects of pot on the human mind that his routine in Potty Mouth, recorded in a comedy club in a mall in Sacramento, focuses prominently on two basic topics: pot and movies. On one hand, his bits on pot and the silly things he’s done while high are never all that original, mostly because comedians have been joking about marijuana for decades. The very tired nature of that material becomes more glaring in the face of the live audience who seem willing to laugh at just about any joke he’ll throw out there as long as it’s about pot. However, when Benson strays from that material into the more profane and ridiculous, the routine picks up steam.
A gag that Benson has incorporated into both his act and his show includes reading from Twitter. It’s not a bad idea to incorporate Twitter into your stand-up routine, but Benson really doesn’t seem to know when enough is enough. Whereas he goes overboard with it on the album for about three minutes, he dials it back significantly to just 4-6 tweets between him and his guest on the show.
The obvious downside is that with only 53-minutes of content, the time spent on the less than stellar content is noticeable. It’s arguable, though, that the last half of the routine redeems some of the earlier portion’s shortcomings with his rants on making films and his proposed future parodies of Spurlock titles. For non-fans, Benson’s Potty Mouth represents about two-thirds of a solid comedy album, and with the DVD accompaniment it rounds out to an enjoyable comic experience.
The Benson Interruption wins out as Potty Mouth’s best feature, with Doug Benson sitting in an armchair and interrupting his comedian friends who are doing a routine on the stage. The lineup of guests includes Nick Swardson, Eugene Mirman, Mary Lynn Rajskub, the Sklar Brothers, Michael Ian Black, Thomas Lennon, Brian Posehn, Greg Proops, T.J. Miller, and Adam Carolla. Three guests take the stage in each episode and at the end of their routines, Doug duels with them using tweets from their respective feeds. It’s pretty much nothing more than a competition for the best one-liner, but it produces a few golden moments.
