Dylan Brody is a very smart man who has an extensive career writing comedy in television, theater, literature, and stand-up. Listening to his linguistic word play is very entertaining and you can tell he knows exactly what he is doing. The problem is he doesn’t seem to try to be funny.
This album can be cut into two vastly different sections, the first five tracks of this stand-up comedy CD are all very short and range from delightful to hilarious. These take up the first ten and a half minutes of the album. From there, there is a dramatic shift to what can be called the one-man show portion of the album.
The remaining hour of A Twist of the Wit is comprised of very long, very slow stories. For the most part, he tries to sprinkle jokes into the tracks. Throughout this time, it appears (or at least I hope) that Brody’s main objective is not to make you laugh, but to engage you in a nice story, more like a monologue than a stand-up set. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he does not. He has the habit of telling you the extensive background of every single story, no matter how long they are, to the point of losing the listeners’ attention. When he actually gets to the stories, you can once again tell he’s a smart, talented writer. He has absolutely flawless delivery and is a master of the English language.
For that alone the album is not a total waste. Tracks like Profound Ambivalence and Murray Samson have very funny jokes, but take far too long to be funny, while tracks like Eventually You Turn Back Into a Pumpkin and True Romance are very well-told stories, but it’s hard to find the comedy in them. You question if there is supposed to be any in the first place (I think there isn’t).
A Twist of Fate is worth a listen if you’re interested in humorous, eloquent stories, without a compulsion to laugh. Otherwise, you won’t be missing much if you pass on this album. Check out our Stand Up! Records page for more great comedy
A Twist of the Wit
Dylan Brody
Stand-up Comedy MP3
Stand Up! Records 2011
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