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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Laugh Out Lord

Neil Hamburger

Drag City · Album · 2002 · 44 min

Forty short tracks of anti-comedy, fake hecklers, and aggressive throat-clearing.

Laugh Out Lord was pitched as a concept album about religion, but mostly it functions as a vehicle for 40 fractured tracks of anti-comedy. As his lounge-lizard alter ego Neil Hamburger, Gregg Turkington delivers structurally broken setups that crash into bleak punchlines. Every joke is separated by phlegmatic throat-clearing, heavy groans, and the palpable discomfort of a performer having a mild nervous breakdown.

Released in 2002 on the indie label Drag City, the audio release splices together studio recordings from Phoenix with tape from a greyhound racing track and various nightclubs. The production leans heavily into an artificial aesthetic, treating the record with dubbed laughter and canned heckling to amplify the tension. Tracks rarely pass the one-minute mark, carrying titles like “Waiter, I Didn’t Touch That Woman’s Ass!” and “Condoms 2002”. The deliberate awkwardness worked, with The A.V. Club later naming the release one of the best comedy albums of the decade.

The set list

5 bits

  1. God's creation of Alan Alda

    Explains that God created Alan Alda because He needed a vehicle to transport Golden Globe awards into Hell.

  2. God inventing the Internet

    Posits that God invented the Internet so He would not be seen buying gay pornography in public.

  3. E.T. and Reese's Pieces

    Jokes that E.T. loved Reese's Pieces because they share the flavor of cum on his home planet.

  4. Visiting an aromatherapist

    Relates going to an aromatherapist who had terrible breath, punctuated with his catchphrase 'But that's my life!'

  5. AOL buying everything

    Suggests America Online should hurry up and merge with the IRS so citizens can die while executives spend remaining tax dollars on dildos.

How it plays

Tone
Abrasive, misanthropic, deadpan, uncomfortable, and intentionally unfunny.
On stage
A glum, tuxedo-clad, hacky sad-sack comedian with greasy comb-over hair and thick glasses, characterized by throat-clearing raspiness, harrowing self-deprecation, and aggressive confrontation with the crowd.
Pace
Stilted cadence punctuated by nervous mumbles, uncomfortable pauses, extended throat clearing, and deliberate timing flubs.
About
religious humor and God, celebrity and pop culture ridicule, corporate culture and AOL, failed relationships and ex-wife's dentist, bodily functions and toilet humor

What the critics said

Praised by alternative comedy critics for transforming onstage bombing, groaner jokes, and abrasive anti-comedy into high art, despite masquerading as a religious record only to dump crude celebrity and toilet humor.

In the room: Filled with uncomfortable silences, bewildered or sparse laughter, and hostile confrontations where quiet attendees are branded 'zipper lips'.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, dragcity.com, neilhamburger.bandcamp.com, prettygoodmusic.app, allmusic.com, washingtoncitypaper.com, newsreview.com, markprindle.com.

Backstory

Conceived as a long-promised Christian/religious comedy record released through Drag City and Glory Home Records, arriving in the post-September 11 climate which Hamburger claimed shook his faith alongside his stalled career.

Details

Released
Runtime
44 min
Where
Drag City (album)
Honors
The A.V. Club's Best Comedy Albums of the Decade (2009)
Topics
Before
Raw Hamburger (1998)

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