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Brick Wall Comedy

Performs His Signature Bits

Adam Cayton-Holland

Saddle Creek · Album · 2018 · 50 min

Domestic comfort meets punk-rock delusion in a Brooklyn basement.

Adam Cayton-Holland's first release since Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents (2017). Released , on Saddle Creek.

Adam Cayton-Holland insists he is a rascal, though every piece of evidence he offers points to an aggressively settled suburbanite. Between birdwatching excursions, driving a Ford Escape, and finding himself suddenly responsible for three dogs after moving in with his wife, his rebellion mostly involves low-stakes mischief and neighborhood friction. The anchor of the set is “Ballad of Jake the Roadie,” an improbable, nearly twelve-minute narrative about a grizzled touring crew veteran that wanders far outside standard stand-up rhythm into pure comic indulgence.

Recorded in the basement of Union Hall in Brooklyn—beneath the audible thud of the venue’s upstairs bocce ball courts—the 50-minute set caught the Denver comic during a productive stretch in 2018. At the time, Cayton-Holland was starring in the truTV high school sitcom Those Who Can’t, which he co-created with his Grawlix partners, and preparing to release Tragedy Plus Time, a book focused on the suicide of his younger sister.

Against that heavier personal writing, this performance functions as a lighthearted counterweight. Cayton-Holland works small and silly: baiting the audience with a mock-tense question about their least favorite race, obsessing over hot dog tongs, and leaning into the quiet indignities of domestic life.

Vulture later named it one of the ten best comedy albums of the year.

Notable bits & set list

5 bits

  1. Ballad of Jake the Roadie

    An 11-minute story arguing that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should hire burned-out roadies as museum tour guides.

  2. Least Favorite Race

    Cayton-Holland riffs with the audience in the opening set about his and their least favorite race.

  3. Harper Lee

    Comedic commentary on Harper Lee and the public reaction surrounding the release of Go Set a Watchman.

  4. Sleep Talking

    Reflections on his habit of talking in his sleep and the suspicions it creates with his wife.

  5. Hot Dogs and Hot Dog Tongs

    Observational musings focusing on hot dogs and the tongs used to handle them.

How it plays

Tone
Dark, observational, playful, and surreal.
On stage
A self-proclaimed rascal who pairs autobiographical musings and sharp observations with surrealism and a rambunctious spirit.
Pace
Rambunctious energy combining observational pacing with layered storytelling.
About
audience interaction and least favorite races, Satanism, condoms full of Slurpees, birds and birdwatching, marriage and relationship dynamics, talking in sleep

What the critics said

Received positive notes for its sharp observations, surrealism, and the standout 11-minute routine 'Ballad of Jake the Roadie', though one critic viewed the rest as standard biographical fare.

In the room: Recorded at Union Hall in Brooklyn, characterized by an intimate room situated beneath active bocce ball courts.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vulture.com, 800poundgorillamedia.com, eponymousreview.com, allmusic.com, theseriouscomedysite.com, pastemagazine.com, en.wikipedia.org, saddle-creek.com.

Backstory

Taped and released under contractual obligation following his Comedy Central half-hour special, during a period preceding the release of his memoir about his younger sister's suicide.

Details

Released
Taped
Union Hall, Brooklyn
Runtime
50 min
Where
Saddle Creek (album)
Honors
Vulture's Top Ten Albums of 2018
Topics
Before
Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents (2017)
After
Wallpaper (2023)

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