10 Best comedy albums of 2009

[punchlinemagazine.com]

here's Punchline Magazine's list of the 10 best comedy albums of 2009, complete with audio clips and purchase links. enjoy. -dylan

http://punchlinemagazine.com/site/pu...lbums-of-2009/

[Itslikeimsayin]

I scrolled down the page one-by-one, thinking to myself, "Wow, they nailed it. Mulaney's gonna be number one!" Then it wasn't. What a horrible oversight.

[dougbenson]

yes, be sure to let the author of the piece know what his opinion should be.

(#5? my album should be #4!)

[JayRunner]

I think the lack of Mulaney on any "best of" lists has just been frustrating, not necessarily a shot at the author for having an inferior opinion. I haven't heard Cummins, Kirshen or Kilmartin's albums but I'd be surprised if they are on the same level of The Top Part.

[isoS]

Here's another list that addresses your concerns:
http://comedians.about.com/od/top10l...bumsof2009.htm

[Itslikeimsayin]

Plus this isn't just one author's list. It's supposedly the collective resources of Punchline magazine.

Also, these lists are intended to generate discussion and divergent opinions.

[smartbunny]

Patton's album art is so cute.

[punchlinemagazine.com]

I think the lack of Mulaney on any "best of" lists has just been frustrating, not necessarily a shot at the author for having an inferior opinion. I haven't heard Cummins, Kirshen or Kilmartin's albums but I'd be surprised if they are on the same level of The Top Part.

we're not done with our year-end lists. we love Mulaney (the album was great, but he's got so much more going on, that it's more about the man -- not the album -- this year). there will be a "comics to look out for in 2010 " list.... kinda tired of Variety's and Hollywood Reporter's lists each year... so we're making our own.

-dylan

[Newt Floss]

This list is as dumb as having a best animated film category. Everyone gets to be nominated!

[darrylduffy]

Here's another list that addresses your concerns:
http://comedians.about.com/od/top10l...bumsof2009.htm

i dunno if that was a slight or not, but i agree with that list and would add stanhope and braunger in to make it 10.

[maxbarth]

Solid list. The fact is, you could buy any of the albums on the list and enjoy it. Comedy, I think, is tough to rank...I think of my favorite comedians in groups...as in the top handful of people I'd see anywhere/anytime and then a group I'd like to see but won't go hugely out of my way to see, etc.

I did love "Unbalanced Load" and "My Weakness is Strong", though. Haven't listened to "Freak Wharf" yet.

I'm glad Dan Cummins made the list - I just met him (and interviewed him - anothercomedyshow.podbean.com) last week. Cool guy, seems on the verge of getting much bigger.

The real "outrage" (if anything involving perceived pro comedic slights could be called that) might be that only one of those albums was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album.

[davidlidsky]

Gaffigan's King Baby will likely show up on Punchline's top DVDs list, as will Dana Gould.

Mulaney's CD is very good, and I would have slotted it in there instead of Kirshen or Kilmartin, but putting together a magazine list is tricky. (I'm working on one now, so trust me here). Not to try to read Dylan at Punchline's mind or question his choices, but I am willing to bet that they wanted more than one woman on the list and they wanted an non-U.S. comedian too, and so I'm sure it was a close call but Mulaney and Braunger (or whomever) got edged out to give the list a bit more diversity. Or as Dylan said, they can represent Mulaney on another list so that opens up a slot to give a shout-out to someone else on the CD list. I spend my days playing these games.

Big picture: There's just so much good comedy right now for some not to feel slighted if you have to pick just 10 (as we dealt with here with the AST poll). As I've been saying for some time, this might be the greatest year ever for published comedy when you add up all the high-quality CD/DVD releases and amazing podcasts. It's easy to take for granted that we're all getting weekly doses of Jimmy Pardo, Jimmy Dore, Todd Glass (until recently), Marc Maron, Scott Aukerman, and Doug Benson (almost weekly). As recently as four years ago, you'd have to live in L.A. and be a regular on the scene to come close to that kind of enjoyment.

[drbristol]

The real "outrage" (if anything involving perceived pro comedic slights could be called that) might be that only one of those albums was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album.

Spot on.

Grammy noms are always ridiculous (nominating artists who have a decade of touring and albums in the books as "Best New Artist"?) but this was a rather solid year for comedy albums and their selections are embarassingly ill-informed.

I like Colbert and Spinal Tap as much as the next person, but these are not "comedy albums"; maybe the category needs to be better defined. There are enough stand-up albums every year to make it a worthy category.

Look at the bright side - at least they didn't nominate Michael Jackson in this category. Wait...maybe I should check that.

[Chase Roper]

yes, be sure to let the author of the piece know what his opinion should be.

(#5? my album should be #4!)

For what it's worth, I voted for you to be 4th best. We don't really vote but I would have. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I can't believe ISolated INcident isn't number one on our list. . .

[Having Fun!]

I voted for Doug as "Resident Cool Guy" on AST Magazine.

[pg13]

we're not done with our year-end lists. we love Mulaney (the album was great, but he's got so much more going on, that it's more about the man -- not the album -- this year). there will be a "comics to look out for in 2010 " list.... kinda tired of Variety's and Hollywood Reporter's lists each year... so we're making our own.

-dylan

I recognize that it's pointless to argue about a list. Doesn't mean I'm not about to do that, of course...but at least I know the pointlessness of the exercise...

I actually hope that John Mulaney is NOT on a "comics to look out for in 2010"... Not because I don't like him, I happen to be a big fan--but a "comics to look out for next year" list should be people who are ABOUT to unleash their career-changing work...who are about to get the recognition they worked their entire lives to achieve...

...and with the release of "The Top Part" in 2009, John Mulaney did that...in 2009. That cd is the product of everything he's done in comedy up to the moment it was released.

That isn't to say that he isn't capable of doing more...of continuing what he's done with new projects that may be as exciting...but "The Top Part" was what we were supposed to look out for...and it delivered and THEN some.

Sorry, but "The Top Part" is a far stronger album, just to pick examples from the top of the Punchline list, than "My Weakness is Strong"...far stronger than "Midlife Vices"...if only because Patton & Greg's albums are temporary products of material produced not for the long term but for what's recently been going on in their minds since the last time they collected their material for a cd release. (Same with Marc...same with Doug--sorry to say, Doug, but as much as I enjoyed "Unbalanced Load", I thought, as a whole, that "Professional Humoredian" was a stronger release...)

"The Top Part" is one of the strongest comedy cd's, top to bottom, that I've ever heard...it's up there with "Impersonal", with "Feelin' Kinda Patton" (although I now much prefer "222", "FKP"'s tight edit of Patton's best-ever material make it impossible to duplicate), with "Himself"...and to not even mention it in a list that manages to include Dan Cummins' "Revenge is Near" on it (and I say this as a fan of Dan "Squirrelador!!!" Cummins and that particular cd) is just wrong...

2009 was John Mulaney's year...and "The Top Part" was deserving of every honor it could get from knowledgeable and informed sources...

To look out for John Mulaney in 2010 is like hoping that Hootie & The Blowfish will top "Cracked Rear View" with their follow-up "Fairweather Johnson" and making them a "Band To Look Out for in 1996".

pg--Opinions are like venereal disease, and look who's got a raging case!--seattle

[maxbarth]

John Mulaney is what..26? I see what you're saying about his album being a huge deal, but at some level it'll be great when he puts out ANOTHER good/great album and everyone realizes how awesome his first one was.

This coming from someone who has yet to hear it, but based on what you're all saying...

Whatever. I'm going to watch Lopez. I heard Chumbawumba might be on.

[punchlinemagazine.com]

davidlidsky and macbarth: very well said, guys.

pg13: re: Benson's last album being better than this one. we agree. we actually picked it to be the best (#1) album of 2008. re: Mulaney... defining a comic "to watch" is so subjective (like comedy) and relative. you are 100 percent right. Mulaney had a great year in 2009. but what if our angle is that he's going to have a year like Aziz Ansari in 2009? compare John's year to Aziz's year. you'd have to agree that Aziz had a bigger year. So if there were a list to "watch for" Aziz it would've been a list from last year, right? We think Mulaney is going to make a much bigger dent on the mainstream conscience and therefore is a comic to watch. You can make the same argument for Kumail; had a huge year, but obviously someone you're going to want to pay attention to in 2010.

-dylan

[scamboogah]

Why aren't more people angry that Braunger's album wasn't on that list?

Best comedy recording I've heard in years.

[davidlidsky]

Why aren't more people angry that Braunger's album wasn't on that list?

Best comedy recording I've heard in years.

No one has mentioned Thin Pig either, or Greg Proops, which I know Dylan at Punchline felt was too seething and harsh. Lotta good stuff out there....