Located in: Opinions
Posted on: April 14th, 2014 No Comments

Oswalt’s new hour doesn’t quite kill


There was once a glorious era when there were comedians as big as any rock star. Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin and Sam Kinison played to sold-out arenas. For those who weren’t lucky enough to personally attend, there was the comedy album. Blockbuster LPs like Pryor’s “Supern****r,” Murphy’s “Delirious,” Carlin’s “Indecent Exposure” and Kinison’s “Have You Seen Me Lately?” conquered as many turntables as Rumours or ‘Zeppelin IV.

The proper venue for the listening of a comedy album was a sleep-over party populated with twelve and thirteen-year-old boys. The holy fools would gift the young bloods with that first glimpse into the conspiracy of adulthood. In appreciation, the little bastards would howl until whatever sugary, carbonated beverage flowed right out their nose and onto a G.I. Joe sleeping bag.

In that same spirit, Patton Oswalt has dropped “Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time.” The impish comedian’s latest batch of material goes right to the heart of the concerns of the veterans of the Jolt Cola-fueled slumber parties of yesteryear.

Oswalt has a unique resume (including, of all things, a split 7-inch single with the Melvins). It would be very easy for him to lose sight of the sacred maxim coined by Conan O’Brien, “Funny man, be funny!” Yet, this album is entertainment, nothing more, nothing less. It has no politics. It does not attempt to make any philosophical or ontological argument.

Wisely, Oswalt slings belly laughs, chortles and titters from the very first moment the stylus drops down on Side A. Patton gleefully tramples over subjects as seemingly unrelated as parenting, the Florida state flag, online brothels, whether or not the German people have any discernible sense of humor and which state has the best claim on being our nation’s phallus. My vote would be Texas. Oswalt feels otherwise.

I’m going to climb out on a ledge in house shoes and call this a family comedy album. After all, families are different than they used to be. The album is profane, true. Yet, it’s a gentle kind of profane. “Tragedy Plus” is the perfect soundtrack selection for when you and the wife are driving around town in the Ford Fusion on a Saturday night, dropping the kids off at a movie and then meeting up for dinner, possibly even a threesome, with that nice lady you met at the community garden.

★★★☆☆

jlrichardson@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

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