Archive Review: "Weird Al" Yankovic's Running With Scissors (2000)

Rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest court jester, “Weird Al” Yankovic follows a pretty successful formula with every album. Toss on a couple of decent song parodies of recent chart toppers, mix in a handful of tongue-in-cheek originals, and complete with a polka-flavored “Stars on 45” styled medley of popular songs. Sure, it’s rote by now, but the key to Yankovic’s genius is in his dead-on, bull’s-eye pop culture parodies that often skewer the ridiculous cult of personality with which we grace musicians, actors, and athletes. Running With Scissors follows Al’s formula to a “T” and although, like most of Yankovic’s albums, there is quite a bit of thrown away material, there are also several very smart and entertaining cuts here as well. The album opening “The Saga Begins” tackles the Star Wars phenomena with a hilarious retelling of The Phantom Menace tale set to the music and rhythm of Don McLean’s classic “American Pie.” Especially clever is the chorus, “Oh my my, this Anakin guy/may be Vader someday later/now he’s just a small fry/he left his home and kissed his mommy good-bye/saying ‘soon I’m gonna be a Jedi’.” The humor here is sly as a fox and sharp as a paper cut.

Other parodies include “Pretty Fly For A Rabbi,” a Yiddish send-up of the Offspring’s “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” and the ultra-cool “It’s All About the Pentiums,” taking on Puff Daddy’s “It’s All About the Benjamins” with heavy metal, high-tech aplomb. “Jerry Springer,” a wordy rendering of Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week” is an engaging look at the addictive nature of tabloid television while originals like the wickedly cruel “Your Horoscope For Today” and the surrealistic story-song “Albuquerque” are hip, funny musical comedies. “Weird Al” is a true treasure, and like I’ve said before, we may take him for granted now but one day we’ll miss him when he’s gone. Nobody else has done more to deflate the egos and absurdity in pop culture, and Running With Scissors is another essential part of Yankovic’s legacy. (Volcano Entertainment)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine, 2000

Archive Review: Paul Krassner's Iron Lives! (2002)

During his lengthy career as a counterculture gadfly, Paul Krassner has worn many hats. The original underground publisher, Krassner founded his satirical journal The Realist in 1958, the zine mixing alternative journalism with social commentary and wild-eyed satire. Appearing sporadically over forty years, The Realist inspired and influenced several generations of writers, musicians and comedians. Along with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, Krassner formed the Yippies in the ‘60s and he has had significant friendships with counterculture legends such as Lenny Bruce, Ken Kesey, and Timothy Leary. Krassner served time as the editor of Hustler magazine, has freelanced for a number of publications, authored several books and, during the past decade, has forged a career as a stand-up comedian and spoken word artist.

Irony Lives! is Krassner’s fifth collection of comedic observations, recorded early in 2002 in front of a live audience in Los Angeles. Befitting his long-standing reputation as a social commentator and general pain-in-the-ass for the powers that be, Krassner’s material is topical to the extreme. From the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks to corporate clowns like Enron, Krassner leaves no sacred cow untouched, waxing intelligently on politics, religion, the Internet, and society as he rapidly blends personal experience and personal observations into a lyrical flow. As a comedian, Krassner doesn’t have the TV-bred timing of today’s young laughmongers, his delivery falling into a conversational style influenced by ‘50s-era iconoclasts like Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl.

Krassner does possess vast insight and razor-sharp wit, however, his material relying less on the quick punchline and more on a thought-provoking intelligence and a keen eye for absurdity. Irony Lives! is a valuable collection, Krassner’s intellectual musings especially welcome in the ever-repressive times in which we live. (Artemis Records, 2002)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2002

Archive Review: Paul Krassner's Brain Damage Control (1997)

An American treasure, Paul Krassner is the subversive, irreverent publisher of The Realist, Yippie founder, 1960s icon, and long-standing champion of free speech. After close to half a century of intellectually tilting at windmills in the best Quixotic manner, what’s left for a madman to do? Taking a page from former pal Lenny Bruce’s playbook, Krassner has turned his satirical eye towards stand-up comedy, resulting in this second Mercury release, Brain Damage Control.

As a comedian, Krassner leans towards the 1950s-styled Bruce/Sahl school of social commentary, with bits like “Ebonics Lesson” and “Spin Doctors” taking aim at the hypocrisies of modern politics and society. Although humorous and topical, such observations are ultimately dated, losing their punch as they age. Krassner is at his best when telling stories of his illustrious past, such as with “Conspiracy Trial” and “Larry Flynt,” or while sharing the difficulties of parenthood in “Teenage Daughter.”

Brain Damage Control is a fine introduction to Krassner’s unique sense of humor for the uninitiated, perhaps leading the laughing listener to subsequently search for one of Krassner’s books or copies of The Realist. In a popular culture run amok, nobody has skewered more sacred cows than Krassner – have a hamburger and entertain yourself with some Brain Damage Control. (Mercury Records, 1997)

Review originally published by Thora-Zine, Austin TX, 1997

Archive Review: Emo Philips’ Live From the Hasty Pudding Theatre (1987)

Comedy is entirely a matter of personal taste, comedy recordings doubly so. Informed criticism of either is somewhat futile and not unlike dancing upon the edge of a well-oiled razor blade, albeit a rather large razor blade. What one person may consider leg-wetting, liver-quivering funny may seem incredibly droll and boring to the next person…all of which, in a round-about way, is my manner of introducing you, gentle reader, to the somewhat slightly strange work of Emo Philips.

You may have seen Emo on Letterman’s show or, perhaps, on one of the many pay-cable networks which seem to dote on young comics these days. If you’ve never seen Mr. Philips – a tall, gaunt fellow with an anachronistic pageboy haircut and a strained, sing-song delivery – you’d never forget him. Emo is one sick puppy. His shtick is a curious mix of introverted self-criticism, audience-shared personal experience, and intellectual absurdity; in short, an artist requiring an acquired taste.

Live From the Hasty Pudding Theatre is Philips’ second record, recorded at Harvard’s legendary Hasty Pudding Theatre, a living shrine to theatrical farce, a location well-suited for Philips’ style of comedy. The material here is consistently off-the-wall, the jokes quick and fleeting, dealing mostly with Emo’s day-to-day existence. The humor is more than a wee bit cerebral, with intellectual broadsides and odd non-sequiturs flying freely. At his best, Philips is a mirror reflecting the various quirks and eccentricities of our society; at his worst, he is merely strange. This is an enjoyable album, if not uproariously funny, but rather the sort of comedy record which yields a fresh dimension of thought with each listen… (Epic Records, 1987)

Review originally published by The Metro (Nashville), 1987

Buy the CD from Amazon: Emo Philips’ Live From the Hasty Pudding Theatre