Funhouse

Dana Gould uses his delivery like a precision instrument, stretching syllables and punctuating his rants with sudden drops in volume. Funhouse captures his hyper-articulate brand of neurosis as he spirals through the absurdities of his own life. He turns a bizarre medical emergency (a hospital trip to extract a live moth from his ear) into manic theater, and elevates mundane complaints about auto insurance into frantic storytelling. The set is heavily anchored by his specific vocal work, trotting out impressions of Frank Sinatra, Don Knotts, and a cat in heat.

Recorded in November 1997 and released in 1998 on CD, the 50-minute album serves as an early artifact of the alternative comedy boom. At the time, Gould was a veteran of The Ben Stiller Show and the voice of video game mascot Gex, a few years prior to starting his long run as a writer for The Simpsons. The tracks move rapidly through his pop culture fixations and weirdest thoughts, featuring bits in praise of Vincent Price and a Morrissey tribute titled “Clown Fucker”.