The Comedy On Vinyl Podcast

It’s another first for Comedy on Vinyl – a non-comedy album.  Long-considered an unappreciated classic, The Replacements’ “Let it Be,” a punk album equally well-written as it is irreverent was hugely influential on this week’s guest. He’s given you some of your favorite Late Night characters: Kilty McBagpipes , The Interrupter , Frankenstein and The Ghost...

Yes, he’s a God.  He’s the nicest man on the planet, and I’ve shaken his hand.  Yes, you needed to know that.  This is one of his tightest albums, containing some of his best originals. She makes funny songs like “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury” and “I Steal Pets,” and is about to write for a sketch show on Cartoon Network.  She’s Rachel Bloom and she was kin...

Storytelling comedy at its best.  In this episode, we discuss our own sibling adventures along with this album, named for the 20-minute track that is side 2.  It is so true-to-life in terms of family that just about anyone can relate. Sit back and enjoy what it was like to have Bill Cosby in your living before he was regularly on TV. Subscribe on iTune s  (And please leave your comments and rate u...

If you think of Lenny Bruce, you probably think of the guy who took on censorship and was a martyr for the cause of free speech.  Maybe you’ve seen the movie “Lenny” and associate him with Dustin Hoffman’s huggable heroin addict.  Your first thought might not be that Lenny Bruce was a guy who told jokes.  And that’s why we’re here. Luckily, this week we’ve...

Before he was Alvy Singer – before he was Woody Allen , even – he was still a writer named simply Woody Allen.  He was turning his behind-the-scenes skills from writing on “Your Show of Shows” and for the stage into a persona to accompany his work.  Though its been said that he hated doing stand-up, there’s no doubt that his point of view ended up so succinct and focu...

It’s about time we discuss an album none of us are familiar with and then turns out to be not nearly as good as we hoped.  It’s not going to be a regular feature, but this week I figured why not get a little perspective?  Before we talk about “Raw” or “Delirious,” let’s see where he was on the heels of being SNL’s first child prodigy. At the end of t...

Happy New Year and happy satire.  Sure, that’s an expression.  One of the great, energetic musical comedians, Tom Lehrer is a must-listen (again, another real expression) for those bent on listening to comedy made by intelligent people. Until recently, Lehrer was a university professor who got out of the satire business for a number of reasons.  He has been quoted as saying &#...

…I have no words.  Except Merry Christmas.  This special episode features the one and only Zero Mostel at possibly his most insane, reading Dr. Seuss’s timeless “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  There are SO many things going on here, I can’t begin to describe it. Just know that despite the fact that we didn’t talk much about Zero (his comedy was...

We waited too long to get to this album, since its among the first albums I ever listened to, and it simply blew my mind.  What’s disappointing is its the first one I simply have not been able to find locally on vinyl – despite having it in the secret Comedy on Vinyl Vaults somewhere deep in the woods of Upstate New York at my mom’s house (it also explains why we’re po...

After Monty Python, Eric Idle continued the sketch comedy television with Rutland Weekend Television, which featured “The Seventh Python,” Neil Innes.  Best known beyond The Rutles as an amazing absurd satirist, Innes brought a musical legitimacy that Idle, with impressive musical credentials of his own, likely couldn’t match.  Also, Innes did a dead-on John Lennon. Hardly the fi...

Mel Brooks may have made the name he has today with a unique brand of parody, but Young Frankenstein is arguably his masterpiece, and is no doubt the beginning of a brand of pastiche that has informed the work of every great filmmaker of the last four decades.  Self-awareness without having to mug, genuine drama without a sly wink, and real, stone-faced, honest acting make this more than just...

To everyone who is awesome: thank you for continuing to listen.  Thanks for putting up with this pseudo-sode, as I’m calling it, in the hopes it won’t catch on.  There are a number of albums coming up, and we’re in the planning stages for the second live Comedy on Vinyl show. Stay tuned for more.  And have a good thing. – Jason Baby Episode 2 Direct Download

They’re back, and this time we cover the second album that made Jason and Dan become best friends while hanging out in a broken Ford Fiesta.  Yep, that’s Upstate New York for you.  This is, in fact, our first quadrilateral New York episode. The appeal of this album is clear, even to comedy nerds who have never touched marijuana in their lives.  The characters are great,...

It’s taken much too long to get to Monty Python, given our collective love for the group, perhaps best demonstrated by how many Holy Grail references make their way into this podcast.  This is a great primer album, though it makes little sense to listen to this until after watching the series and, of course, Holy Grail and Life of Brian. They were the gods of irreverence and detractors...

For the first time, I’m going to recommend you actually watch something before listening to this week’s album (links are below).  Why?  Well, because Ernie Kovacs is the godfather of experimental TV.  Which is why, as a comedy writer, I was blown away that my introduction to him was from non-comedian (but hilarious person) Adam X. Storm. Adam’s connection to Ernie...

He was Troy McClure.  He was Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.  He was Bill McNeil.  Most importantly, he was a brilliant comedic actor, and loved by everyone he worked with.  He also inspired some of us to do what it is we do.  That was reason enough to make our first live episode a tribute to him. This week we were honored to be joined by Vicki Lewis, whose love for Phil Hartman made this one big, amazin...

(Originally posted 9/7:) Every once in a great while, you come across a comedy album that changes comedy.  Maybe it doesn’t change the nature of comedy, but it changes your understanding of what comedy can be.  Rarely can a stand-up do that on his own.  But then, it’s arguable that Steve Martin wasn’t just a stand-up, and that “Let’s Get Small” mi...

It didn’t take long for Richard Pryor’s work to crop back up on Comedy on Vinyl, which is mostly due to popular demand.  Not only is “…Is it Something I Said?” still  our most-downloaded episode, but two of my favorite comedic minds specifically said they needed to talk to me about this one.  And I do mean to  me, folks, as Live on the Sunset...

Hey Everybody!  A big thanks to all of you who have been listening to us comedy nerds as we regale you with our development as comedy people.  This week, no album, but for good reason – we’re all very busy.  That said, we have some awesome things in store, so please check out this week’s episode.  And tell your friends! Thank you, Jason Klamm Episode 8 Direct...

If it wasn’t for this album, the 70s arguably wouldn’t have been the 70s.  Before “pot culture” and “pot humor,” there were two brilliant sketch comedians who also talked a lot about pot.  Those guys were Cheech and Chong.  I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for Cheech and Chong – my first attempts at audio comedy, at 13 – if a bit rough...

Not stand-up.  Not sketch.  Just pure comedy.  The Firesign Theatre are, luckily, indescribable.  You owe it to yourself to find any of their comedy.  They have released 22 albums since the 70s and this is, frankly, their third. This particular episode forgoes the convention of being clip-heavy, or even clip-light (there’s just the one, really) as we had a lot to talk about with this week&#8...

This week we skip back to last week’s comedian’s (Richard Pryor) biggest influence.  Bill Cosby influenced two generations in two entirely different ways.  He broke ground with his stand up comedy, became the first black man to star in a TV drama, and then headed up what was arguably the most successful (financially and culturally) sitcom of the 80s. This is Bill Cosby’...

This week: three white guys talk about Richard Pryor.  In this episode, we’re joined by the hilarious and talented Mike Preister.  You’ve seen his work on TV for over a decade, and now he’s been kind enough to talk with us about his earliest, biggest comedy influence.  Namely: Richard Pryor’s fourth album, “…Is It Something I Said?”  Ra...

Finally!  We cover The Smothers Brothers’s’s first album.  This album helped the duo achieve the kind of notoriety that informs the success of every folk comedy… duo… since.  Actually, the form was so unique that they cut out a place for themselves in the world of comedy that, eventually, made them two of the most influential voices in the history of modern c...

EPISODE #2: The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (1960) In this episode, Jason Klamm, Dan Gomiller and Mike Worden are joined by writer/podcaster Ari Jarvis to discuss 1960s comedy phenomenon Bob Newhart in his premiere album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” Not so much a rarity, this album still serves as a flashback to the days when the proof was really in the pudding.  Small-t...