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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Disasterbation

Derek Sheen

Stand Up! Records · Album · 2017

Dark, wordy stand-up about depression, colonoscopies, and heavy metal.

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Derek Sheen treats clinical depression like a logistical problem with a surprisingly simple solution: sleep. His advice to anyone on the verge of throwing in the towel is to just wait until the next day, since things might look slightly less terrible in the morning. That specific brand of gloomy, practical optimism anchors his third album.

Recorded live in Olympia, Washington, and released in October 2017 on Stand Up! Records, Disasterbation finds the Seattle-based comic translating existential anxieties into highly structured, verbose stories. He is a comic who works in hyper-detailed pictures, whether he is talking about the cartoonish absurdity of the Kool-Aid Man acting as a form of divine punishment, or detailing the sheer indignity of his own medical colonoscopy.

There are also detours into heavy metal nostalgia, the fatigue of constant political dread, and an incident involving a racist grandmother on a plane. The material is consistently dark, but Sheen’s rhythm on stage is fast and lyrical, keeping the heavy topics from sinking the room.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Fun ways to commit suicide and coping with depression

    Presents imaginative, dark comedic scenarios to make one's death a memorable tale.

  2. Tokyo Supper Club / Underground cannibal club

    A humorous and twisted exploration of cannibalism and exclusive underground clubs.

  3. America's Least Favorite Powdered Drink

    A rant revealing the true historical background of the 'drinking the Kool-Aid' expression, punctuated by a psychedelic sound effect.

  4. Getting a colonoscopy

    Details modern medical inconvenience, ironically framing the procedure as one of the best times of his life.

  5. Heavy metal music and finding a guitar teacher in a Chinese restaurant

    Recalls his high school love of 1980s metal and a rock show gone wrong involving coffee filters, Par cans, and an odd meeting in a Chinese restaurant.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Hitting a child while texting and driving closer

    A dark, audacious story recounting the shocking consequences and unexpected ending of a driving accident.

How it plays

Tone
Dark, wry, self-deprecating, and audacious.
On stage
Intelligently dark, self-deprecating storyteller with hints of David Sedaris and Brian Posehn, delivering dark, wry twists and personal vulnerabilities that can spiral into mania.
Pace
Impeccably timed and described as an almost lyrical set.
About
Depression and suicide, Cannibalism, Hitler fatigue, The origin of the Kool-Aid expression, Medical procedures and colonoscopy, Aviation and travel

What the critics said

Richard Lanoie of The Serious Comedy Site praised Disasterbation as proof that 'there are still some great, original, and intelligently dark comics out there,' hailing it as 'one hell of a comedy download album' with masterfully constructed bits.

In the room: A live club audience in Olympia, WA; noted during one routine to be slightly unappreciative of a psychedelic sound effect punchline.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: music.amazon.com.au, itsalivemedia.com, theseriouscomedysite.com, thestranger.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Recorded live in Olympia, Washington; Sheen incorporates his personal experiences dealing with depression, medication, and everyday tumult.

Details

Released
Where
Stand Up! Records (album)
Topics
Before
Holy Drivel (2017)
After
Macho Caballero (2020)

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