Don’t Wake the Bear

How do you write a children’s book about three happy rabbits meeting a butcher? Dan Cummins has the answer, and it is exactly as grim as his audience expects. Throughout this hour, Cummins works in a zone of high-energy cynicism, leaning into a theatrical delivery that makes his deeply dark tangents go down easy. Whether he is explaining how to dodge jury duty by reacting to a defendant’s facial tattoos or mapping out the terrifying realities of 19th-century surgery, he maintains a manic, intensely detailed rhythm that sets him apart from standard-issue club comics.

The special was taped over two sold-out shows at The Depot in Salt Lake City, Utah, and released by Comedy Dynamics in 2017. At this point in his career, Cummins was pivoting into his hugely popular Timesuck podcast, a move that perfectly matched his obsessive research habits and morbid curiosity. That same fascination with historical weirdness shines through in his stand-up, particularly in a long bit about civil war medicine and another involving a collection of dead squirrel puppets.

Rather than trying to charm the crowd with relatable domestic pleasantries, Cummins targets the absurdity of modern parenting. He details the escalating battle of wills over a pacifier in “The Binky Queen” and admits to the quiet terror of raising kids who are clearly smarter than their father.