The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman

Eugene Mirman treats the stand-up stage like a boardroom where he is delivering a series of deeply stupid, highly formal business pitches. His classic bit selling geometric figures to the public, offering slogans like ‘Square: The Other Rectangle,’ shows exactly how he operates by taking the dry, polite language of corporate advertising and applying it to nonsense. Released in 2004 by the indie label Suicide Squeeze Records, this debut CD and DVD combo served as a formal introduction to Mirman’s place in the early-2000s alternative comedy boom. At this point in his career, he was a fixture of the New York scene, co-running the weekly ‘Invite Them Up’ show in Brooklyn and regularly touring as an opening act for bands like Modest Mouse. The album captures him at his most delightfully pedantic, whether he is recounting an escalating war of passive-aggressive letters with a credit card company over a minor billing dispute or explaining how his childhood as a Russian-Jewish immigrant in Reagan’s America shaped his perspective. The material earned critical praise upon its release, securing spots on the year-end best lists of both The A.V. Club and Time Out New York.