The Things We Tell Ourselves

Mike Paramore works the gap between who people want to be and the small lies they invent to get through the day. He takes aim at the universal dread of the bathroom scale on ‘Night Weight,’ arguing that nobody should ever step onto one after sundown when heavy denim and bad choices can take the blame. His delivery is conversational and relaxed, letting the listener in on everyday embarrassments without judgment.

He sounds less like a comic working through a routine and more like an old friend venting at a diner booth.

Released in May 2016 by Comedy Dynamics as an audio album, The Things We Tell Ourselves captured the Cleveland comedian in the middle of a steady festival run. Paramore had played linebacker at the University of Akron before a knee injury ended his football ambitions, leading him to improv and stand-up stages across Ohio. By the time this thirty-five-minute set was recorded, he had won the Cleveland Comedy Festival, reached the finals at the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas, and secured appearances on Fox’s syndicated showcase Laughs.

The material stays grounded in domestic friction and personal shortcomings. Across fifteen tracks, Paramore talks through the sticky chaos of small children in ‘Kids Are Nasty,’ bad choices in ‘A Bad Picker,’ and the strange logic of movies like Winnie the Pooh and Finding Nemo.