Vulture just announced it’s Top 10 Comedy Albums of 2018, and Mike Vecchione’s The Worst Kind of Thoughtful came in at number one.
From the article:
“By the numbers, The Worst Kind of Thoughtful has 35 tracks and at least five or six times as many jokes. If Vecchione’s pacing were any slower, or if he spent more than mere fragments of a second to let the audience breathe, this would have been two albums. But instead, he opts for a rapid-fire delivery, swiftly moving from joke to joke and hitting his punch lines like a boxer working a speed bag. In terms of topics, the album may seem like old hat. Public transportation, dating apps, food, and aging are well-tread territories. But what breathes life into these themes is Vecchione’s prolific writing, biting wit, and droll confidence. Take for instance his Megabus chunk. He starts off with seven roasts on Megabus before launching into his own experience on the bargain people-mover. Using the people and circumstances of the Megabus as a home base, he tangentially shifts to his relationship with Catholicism, what Jesus could have done better, and meditation, all before returning to the rolling shitshow that is the Megabus. After that nearly ten-minute section is all said and done, he remarks, “I don’t have any more bus jokes. Airplane jokes it is.” In an era when terms like “post-comedy” are used to describe stand-up, Vecchione uses classic setup-punch structure to its fullest to remind us where live comedy came from and what it will always be at its core: funny for funny’s sake.”
Read the whole article here