The United States Of Russia

Being Russian in America in 2018 meant constant questions about espionage and foreign interference. Ben Rosenfeld, born in Leningrad and raised in Connecticut, cuts through the political paranoia by offering cold Russian stoicism as an antidote to fragile American anxieties.

The 73-minute audio set, released by Comedy Dynamics in January 2018, was his third full-length album and reached number one on the iTunes comedy chart. At that point in his career, Rosenfeld was pivoting from outsider material into domestic life, having recently married fellow stand-up Michelle Slonim. Much of the set balances marital negotiations and newlywed compromises with bits about immigrant parenting, terrorism, and cultural misconceptions.

Before pursuing comedy full-time, Rosenfeld studied neuroeconomics in graduate school at Caltech. That clinical, calculated approach comes through in the writing, where jokes about internet security and mob photographers are built around patient logic rather than manic energy.