Fart Safari

Doug Mellard decided to name his debut stand-up album after a flatulent excursion, but there are actually no flatulence jokes to be found on the recording. Instead, the Texas native delivers an energetic, fast-paced set built on absurd hypotheticals and hyper-specific personal anecdotes. Mellard keeps the crowd off-balance by jumping from odd life hacks, like eating glitter to make his night on the town a bit more sparkly, to uncomfortable childhood confessions, such as asking his mother if she remembers when he convinced himself he had “masturbation-AIDS.”

Recorded over two nights in October 2014 at the New Movement Theater in Austin, Texas, the album captures Mellard returning to the scene of his early career. After winning the Funniest Person in Austin contest in 2006 and appearing on multiple seasons of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Mellard had relocated to Los Angeles, making this live set a homecoming of sorts. Released by Stand Up! Records in August 2015, the 48-minute performance features 11 tracks including “Racist BBQ,” “Shat Mat,” and “Nursing Home.” Mellard blends Mitch Hedberg-style non sequiturs with high-energy rants, questioning why anyone named a racehorse Seabiscuit and pondering whether the early 2000s heroin epidemic was truly worth it given the lack of great accompanying music.