★★★★★
Doug Stanhope has talked enough to fill 12 CDs and DVDs. The problem, as he posits on the new Before Turning The Gun On Himself, is that nobody has been listening. The album ends with an 11-minute reprimand of fans who, say, write to tell him how much sense his anti-marriage tirade makes, only to follow up that they're getting married. "In 20 years of comedy, I've probably had a dozen good points," he says. "But that whole changing-the-world thing never kicked in...
- www.avclub.com
2012-03-06
★★★★★
Stanhope is a vice-ridden drunk swinging wildly at pop culture's attempts to curtail him. But damn if he doesn't tell some hilariously cynical jokes on his way down. Taking the legacy of Bill Hicks to its 21st century extreme, Stanhope eviscerates .08 driving laws and M.A.D.D...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Vulgar comedian Doug Stanhope's debut for Nebraskan label -ismist Recordings features 15 skits that center mostly on perversity. Occasionally, such as during "Ecstasy," he ventures into drug territory, but he still manages to integrate some sort of sexual humor for the punch line. His humor isn't easy to stomach, and will surely offend many, but if you enjoy rude and exploitative sex jokes coming from a penis-orientated male point of view, this should make you laugh.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Stanhope's an angry guy -- angry at Hertz, angry about non-smoking sections, angry about tandem skydiving. And if you're a truck driver, skip over track four. But while he's an irrepressible churl, Stanhope at least tries to universalize his plight as an everyguy caught up in pop culture's toilet bowl tidal wave. A rant about the elderly points out that seniors are only senile or needy when they get taken; the rest of the time they're lording their age over the rest of us...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
Doug Stanhope's second album for -ismist Recordings, Something to Take the Edge Off, is yet another live recording from one of the standup comedian's raucous club performances (Laff Stop in Houston, TX, May 21, 2000). The fact that acoustic guitarist Henry Phillips strums subtle music in the background does set it apart from the traditional comedy album, but, ultimately, it adds little to Sanhope's humor...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27