Taste the Lightning

Auggie Smith spends this audio hour leaning hard into the sputtering, rapid-fire rant style he developed early in his career to cut through the noise of dive bars. Released by Stand Up! Records in 2023, the album captures a veteran club comic adjusting to fatherhood and middle age, trying to reconcile his old-school liberal views with the exhausting friction of modern life.

The material swings from parenting complaints to highly specific setups, like a bit weighing the tactical benefits of encountering a circumcised versus an uncircumcised home invader. Later, he tackles the Emergency Broadcast System, noting that the warning sound resembles a fax machine sent by a pterodactyl fighting a bear, yet remains a comforting constant in a chaotic world. Throughout the hour, Smith pairs his loud, sarcastic delivery with tight, efficient writing, keeping the energy high without letting the jokes dissolve into simple screaming.