June 8, 2004

{ David Cross It's Not Funny }

It�s too easy to just praise this album. And what fucking good would it do anyway? Cross is a doomed man, cursed with more insight and wit than should ever be granted a single human being. It makes him enemies, (Scot Stapp of nu-grunge wanksters Creed) and loses him friends (Howard Dean apologized for Cross�s performance at a fundraising rally). He�s been accused by the New York Post of touting racial epithets, and his own audience boos him. So you�ll understand if I don�t waste my time trying to change anybody�s mind. The truth is, most people just don�t get it. And they won�t. This isn�t some �smarter/hipper than thou� assertion on my part, it�s simply a fact. Just as Cross�s comedy is not an attempt to cater to some intellectually elite Manhattanite mentality (as has been claimed), it is also not meant for anyone whose idea of great stand-up comedy includes either the word �Jeff� or the word �Foxworthy�. Part Jello Biafra and part Lenny Bruce, David Cross is proving to be just as reviled, and just as pointedly hilarious- his mixture of political commentary and sacrilicious iconoclasm crosses every line and violates all standards. The fact that he dares to call it �comedy�, and the fact that (some) people are laughing, is probably the only thing that has kept him out of jail since Bush took office. It�s Not Funny includes a bit where Cross breaks down the Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie reality TV series The Simple Life, and a commercial for time-saving �Electric Scissors� viewed while watching said program as a shining example of how Americans typically choose to exercise the liberty and freedom we�re supposedly at war to protect. We waste it on bullshit. In drawing this conclusion, David Cross proves that freedom and liberty have never been better exercised than they are in the hands of... David Cross.

» Buy this and other David Cross recordings from Sub Pop Records

By Adam in Music | Comments: