Rewound

Chris Knutson operates on a theory of aggressively lowered expectations. Whether he is whittling down his partner’s standard of living until she gladly accepts a wooden proposal ring, choosing a college strictly because its jingle aired during Maury reruns, or treating his regrettable tattoos like a puzzle from Memento, he treats life as a series of negotiations with mediocrity. The centerpiece of the set is a slow-burn breakdown of the time he narrowly avoided becoming a viral news sensation. While working a shift as a pizza delivery driver, Knutson repeatedly declined to stop an active bank robbery, primarily because he was dressed in a superhero costume and wanted absolutely nothing to do with security footage.

The set was recorded live at Sisyphus Brewing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2015, but sat on the shelf for six years before Stand Up! Records finally released it in March 2021 on digital platforms and a limited-run VHS tape. Knutson, a staple of the Upper Midwest comedy scene and former half of the comedy-rap duo Valley Meadows, uses the hour to cement his persona as an expert in finding the path of least resistance. The tracks range from dealing with sketchy side-gigs to the title bit, where he tries to salvage a failed stand-up set by delivering the entire thing backward.