Since I launched this blog in March, I have tried to write about as many wonderful things as I can, in essays, the podcast, and every Friday in the New Release Roundup. Try as I might, I can’t write about all the good stuff coming out. This will be my annual attempt to correct that. For the next ten days, I’ll be highlighting albums I missed in 2016. To cast an even wider net, I’ve enlisted some talented friends to write about some of their favorites this year. You can find that here.
Dan Crohn – It’s Enough Already
Boston comic Dan Crohn has great rhythm. He knows where to speed up on a set-up and slow down on a punchline to get the necessary information out and emphasize the funny stuff, or to run everything together so an audience has to slam on their breaks and look back at what just hit them. “Drugs are terrible, I do ‘em,” he says at one point on It’s Enough Already, in a nice quick jab to the ribs. Just seconds later, he’s on to a different subject, a zoo in a bad part of town. “You hear a lion roar and then a gun shot and it’s unrelated, it’s crazy,” he says. I’ve been lucky to be able to cover comedy for more than fifteen years in Boston, where there are a lot of great young comedians and working veteran performers. I’ve gotten to see Dan do some of this stuff live, and I’m happy it’s out there for more people to find. I didn’t miss this entirely — I did include “Growing Up” at the end of EP12 of the podcast with musician Brett Netson. But I haven’t been able to write much about Crohn’s album until now. A former teacher, he explains the “good news sandwich” method of talking with parents, for which you start and end with good news so the bad news in the middle doesn’t seem that bad. “I’m like, ‘Your son, he finished all his homework, but he stabbed me,’” and then a perfect pause, “’I’m okay.’” He’s skillful in finding new ground in everyday stuff like driving and dating, and he knows how to serve it up onstage. Find out more on his Web site or iTunes.
“Drugs Are Terrible”
“Growing Up”
“Stupid Tall”