CD Review
Doug Benson: Smug Life
3 1/2 stars (out of 5)
Doug Benson’s new album, Smug Life is comprised of two discs. Benson attempted an experiment: he recorded one set sober and one set high. Disc One (called “Uncooked“) is the sober set and Disc Two (“Cooked”) is the marijuana set. He comments on the experiment, saying that he expects the cooked set to be just as good as the uncooked set.
He’s correct. They are almost indistinguishable. Maybe he giggles a tiny bit more on “cooked“, but Benson’s a professional, and the deliveries are so on-point that you could easily forget which disc you’re listening to.
Benson bookends his sets by dipping into his twitter account. Despite their “one-liner” nature, the Twitter bits are extemporaneous and anecdotal, making the process of reading one’s own tweets at a comedy show way more engaging than you would expect. He also reads some of the up-to-the-minute tweets his fans are tweeting about being at his show.
The always pop-culturally-referential Benson is as conversational and personable as ever. Some of highlight tracks include him making fun of elderly people who watch 60 Minutes, as well as people that offer him terrible jokes for his act…as well as a bit about non-thorough head-to-toe masseuses.
His double-CD experiment lands just on par with his other offerings, and adds the additional gonzo element of the uneventful-but-still fascinating “high or not high” element. While it would perhaps be situationally funnier if Benson were off-his-game for one of these, the reality of the matter is that he’s always funny on stage, and that’s pretty much that.
If you want to follow Doug Benson on twitter, it’s @DougBenson, and if you want to see him live, he has a very busy July, stopping in Las Vegas, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Portland, and Pittsburg.
Ryan P. Carey, D.D.S. is a Philadelphia-based comic and senior contributing writer for STAGE TIME. Check out his blog at http://dolphindentist.blogspot.com.
