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Two Slob Household

Mike Lebovitz

Tubi · Album · 2021 · 78 min

A delayed but welcome package of loud Chicago barstool comedy.

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Mike Lebovitz is a barstool philosopher whose comedy feels like a loose, loud conversation at a dive bar. Released in 2021, Two Slob Household captures a specific moment in his career: he recorded the set in late 2014 at Timothy O’Toole’s Pub in Chicago, a basement venue where he co-founded the influential Comedians You Should Know collective. The material sat shelved for seven years before Stand Up! Records finally put it out during the pandemic, giving his jokes about being cooped up with a partner a strange, retroactive relevance.\n\nLebovitz operates with a high-energy, slightly chaotic delivery, leaning heavily on tangents and self-deprecation. Much of the set is anchored in his transition from city living to suburban domesticity, covering the logistics of riding the Megabus, surviving birthing classes, and explaining his status as a non-practicing half-Jew who owns a menorah that was clearly a Christmas gift. He also weighs the merits of theft as a rebranding strategy and explains the logistical headache of the DUI/DTF conundrum.\n\nThe album reached the number two spot on the iTunes comedy chart upon its release, a solid reception for an hour that sat in a vault for nearly a decade. It is a portrait of a working comic just before he left Chicago for the New York club circuit and booked a spot on Last Comic Standing.

The set list

4 bits

  1. The DUI/DTF conundrum

    Explores the comedic conflict between bad driving choices and hookup motives

  2. Dick lassos

    Comedic exploration within an elaborate tangent

  3. Country music cancellations

    Satirical riff on country music culture and cancellations

  4. Being a less-than-observant Jew who owns a menorah that was given as a Christmas gift

    Self-deprecating observational joke about religious background and personal habits

How it plays

Tone
Warm, silly, sly, inventive, conspiratorially winking, and self-deprecating
On stage
Unassuming barstool philosopher, slightly less-than-observant Jew, and lovable, mustachioed ball of energy described as an amalgam of John Belushi, Mitch Hedberg, Kyle Kinane, and Adam Pally
Pace
Spontaneous and high-energy; careens from topic to topic with elaborate tangents before boomeranging back to stick the landing on original setups
About
marriage and fatherhood, Jewish identity, urban chauvinism and suburban life, substance use and weed, country music cancellations, relationships and dating

What the critics said

Praised as warm, fun, and delightfully inventive stand-up perfectly suited for pandemic-era relief; described by reviewers as feeling like a party

In the room: Spontaneous, joyful, warm, and party-like

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vimeo.com, music.apple.com, en.wikipedia.org, racketmn.com, mikelebovitz.net.

Backstory

Filmed in 2014 at Chicago's Timothy O'Toole's, but released in early 2021 during 'the Great Quar' (the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine)

Details

Released
Taped
2014, Timothy O'Toole's, Chicago
Runtime
78 min
Where
Tubi (album)
Director
Michael Sanchez
Honors
No. 2 on the iTunes comedy chart
Topics

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