A set of three EPs, featuring Proops Digs In! (a loose set by Greg Proops), Fossil Record (a showcase of Dan Telfer’s standup from the Lakeshore Theater), and Sir, you have fooled me twice (the “lost” riffs from Paul F. Tompkins’ Freak Wharf CD), was released on June 1st.
All are packaged in an attractive eco-wallet format, with Telfer’s Fossil Record cover featuring art by the fantastically talented graphic artist Dyna Moe of “Mad Men Yourself” fame. For Sir, you have fooled me twice, Matt Belknap of AST Records provided a rendering of Tompkins’ iconic Freak Wharf cover in a style that was described by Greg Proops as “drawn by a child who had suffered a blow to the head”. The art for Proops Digs In! is a sleek tribute to jazz albums (especially the work of Miles Davis, legendary jazzman and “fervent” crack-smoker). At $15 (plus shipping) it’s a 3-disc, 70+ minute bargain from some of my favorite stand ups.
Greg Proops: Proops Digs In! – AST Records 2010
“… a postcard from the dark side of the netherworld…”
Greg Proops is a catty, bitchy, machine gun of intellectual snark, dishing out alternately high and lowbrow references in an offhand manner that seems like some sort of wizardry. He is what cynical, snarky, ironic, pseudo-intellectual hipsters wish they could be. Proops skewers his topics with aplomb, using his lovingly crafted barbs. You’re never invited in. You show up mid-party and have to hang on for dear life, letting the words that slide out of his mouth pummel you. If you get it, you get it. Pop culture references follow highbrow concepts, all tied together with a virtuoso use of language that is giddying. Whether eviscerating Hugh Jackman’s method of dealing with a patron with a disruptive cellphone, excoriating the Beatles Anthology, or describing Tom Jones’ Ur-penis, Proops kicks ass, pure and simple.
Greg Proops’ Website
Greg Proops: Proops Digs In! on AST Records
Greg Proops: Proops Digs In! on iTunes
Greg Proops: Elsewhere on AST Records
Greg Proops: Elsewhere on iTunes
Greg Proops: Elswhere on Amazon
Dan Telfer: Fossil Record - AST Records 2010
“I want my ‘Star Wars’ impressions to be special…”
With Fossil Record, Chicago comic Dan Telfer unleashes a tirade on geese, waxes poetic on the merits of dinosaurs, is transfixed by what he finds when he goes looking for a cute platypus picture, and generally nerds out on a variety of topics.
This EP was an impromptu recording at the Lakeshore Theater as part of Dan’s opening for Paul F. Tompkins’ Freak Wharf CD taping, so there are some bits that could have been better staged for a CD. Telfer admits this much in his liner notes, but that’s a minor quibble for what is a tight, funny look at a unique comic voice.
Telfer’s style is insistent and hyper, and his topics are unflinchingly his own; jokes on paleontology, “Star Wars,” and assorted uber-nerdery are all tossed out with ease and insouciance. Dan, like any geek, knows mouthing off might get you a beat down from the cool kids, but that’s OK - like the ankylosaurus, he’s got an armor plated hide.
Dan Telfer’s Website
Dan Telfer: Fossil Record on AST Records
Dan Telfer: Fossil Record iTunes
Paul F. Tompkins: Sir, you have fooled me twice AST Records – 2010
“I’m having such a good time talkin’, that I forget I’m paid to be here…”
An addendum to last year’s Freak Wharf, Sir, you have fooled me twice is more proof that Tompkins is one of the funniest, sharpest comics working today. Forced to effectively be his own warm up act (Chicago’s now defunct Lakeshore Theater had a policy of placing an intermission between acts), Paul riffed his way to a warmed up crowd.
Sir, you have fooled me twice is four lightning fast tracks of stream of consciousness wit capturing the live show experience, and an extended version of Paul’s classic “Peanut Brittle” routine from 2007’s Impersonal rounds out this EP. Like Greg Proops above, Tompkins is the master of the perfect turn of phrase, delighting himself and the audience in equal measure. This is a must buy for the Paul F. Tompkins fan. If you are not a fan, buy Impersonal, Freak Wharf, and the EP triptych, because you will be. If you don’t like Paul’s work after that – I will buy those CDs from you and give them to someone who is capable of feeling happiness and is NOT A ROBOT-PERSON.
Paul F. Tompkins’ Website
Paul F. Tompkins: Sir, you have fooled me twice on AST Records
Paul F. Tompkins: Impersonal Amazon MP3
Paul F. Tompkins: Impersonal iTunes
Paul F. Tompkins: Freak Wharf Amazon MP3
Paul F. Tompkins: Freak Wharf iTunes
-Gene George
