Shut Up You Fucking Baby!

David Cross approached Shut Up You Fucking Baby! less like a standard comedy hour and more like a hostile indie-rock gig. He toured music venues instead of comedy clubs. He released the resulting double album on Sub Pop. He even trolled his own listeners by giving the tracks clichéd titles like “Monica Lewinsky and the Three Bears” and “Austin Powers Saying ‘Yeah Baby’” that have absolutely nothing to do with the material. The actual stand-up is an extended, disdainful rant against organized religion, the Bush administration, and obnoxious radio jockeys. Cross operates with a palpable sense of anger, treating minor annoyances and global politics with the same withering contempt.

Compiled from sold-out 2002 shows in Portland and his hometown of Atlanta, the audio release captures the comedian riding the underground cachet of his defunct HBO sketch series Mr. Show. The set moves fast, packed with short bits about the war on drugs, the conceptual absurdity of square bagels (“Squagels”), and boy bands. “Who’s my favorite New Kid?” he asks at one point. “The first one that dies”. The album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album the following year, though it ultimately lost to “Weird Al” Yankovic.