Jonah Ray
Hello, Mr. Magic Plane Person, Hello
ASpecialThing Records
By Austin L. Ray
Ray has surrounded himself with funny people and wiggled his way into certain opportunities. These people and opportunities have given him a chance to wield his decidedly silly points of view all over the place.
Kyle Kinane
Death of the Party (Vinyl Reissue)
Stand Up! Records
By Austin L. Ray
Arguably the best comedy release of 2010—and serving as an introduction to one of stand up’s brightest (and rising) stars—this record is a modern-day classic.
Todd Glass
Laughing Skull Lounge
Thursday, April 26, 2012
By Austin L. Ray
Presumably a great weight has been lifted off the 47-year-old comedian’s shoulders, but old habits die hard, and it’s perhaps unsurprising that he stuck to the status quo.
Patton Oswalt
Finest Hour
Comedy Central
By Austin L. Ray
More than simple celebration and appreciation, Finest Hour depicts Oswalt as a man learning as he goes. He still talks plenty of shit, but he also turns the focus on himself.
Eddie Gossling
Fresh Brewed Eddie (Reissue)
Stand Up! Records
By Austin L. Ray
The upside is that a comedy release is getting the packaging care it deserves and fans have an easy way to acquire it, the downside that a set of new material would be easier to relate to and most likely better content.
Maria Bamford
Laughing Skull Lounge
Thursday, March 22, 2012
By Austin L. Ray
She inhabits her own little plane of comedic existence, and while it’s probably pretty lonely there, the rewards for the people willing to listen are rich and weird.
Aziz Ansari
Dangerously Delicious
Self-Released
By Austin L. Ray
With any number of other established comics, this kind of “I’m famous and it’s hard!” material might grate, but Ansari’s warm boyishness pulls it off.
Rick Shapiro
Catalyst for Change
Stand Up! Records
By Austin L. Ray
With all due respect to Shapiro and his obvious talent, vast interests and serious opinions, his mind is probably not something most people want to inhabit.
Andy Hendrickson
Underachiever
Rooftop Comedy
By Austin L. Ray
It’s more than a little inexplicable that his relatively clean, good-hearted work hasn’t reached a more widespread audience in the 10 years and trio of albums now under his belt.
Billy Wayne Davis
Billy Wayne Davis
Rooftop Comedy
By Austin L. Ray
He offers a refreshing take on an oft-stereotyped “country” sensibility, one that can only be toppled if more artists like Davis step up and let their voices be heard.
Dylan Brody
Chronological Disorder
Stand Up! Records
By Austin L. Ray
Brody pushes the envelope of what is considered stand-up comedy 20 or so years into a career that will clearly ripen and evolve further into his golden years.