Bad Comedy for Bad People

Keith Lowell Jensen has a knack for making heavy, systemic issues feel like conversational fodder you would chuckle over at a bar. He tackles teen depression by analyzing Joy Division t-shirt sales, and structures his thoughts on late-stage capitalism, prison systems, and homelessness around what he calls a modest vegan proposal. It is a set built on skepticism and sharp observation, but delivered with the patient, avuncular vibe of a guy who has spent a lot of time thinking about how absurd the world is.

Recorded live at the Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom, California, Bad Comedy for Bad People was released in 2018 by Stand Up! Records. At the time, the Sacramento-based comedian was expanding his output, following up this release with another album and a book of essays. Notable bits in the set include late-stage sex education and a popular segment about running a Twitter account for his young daughter under the handle @MaxTheTiger. The album topped both the iTunes and Amazon comedy charts shortly after its release.