Greg Giraldo (RIP) is a very good stand-up comic. Good Day To Cross A River is an almost excellent comedy stand-up CD on the Comedy Central Records label.
Why the difference? Because milking a joke may be an effective way to keep the laughs rolling and leave a good impression with a comedy club audience but it does not always translate well on CD.
This aside, Greg Giraldo may be a topical comic whose topic choices may not always be groundbreaking such as what would Jesus do, Wal-Mart, Siegfried and Roy, and gay marriage but his take on them is funny and different enough and some of the punchlines will certainly surprise by their originality.
Especially different and original is Greg Giraldo’s take on gay marriage as a better choice than traditional marriage. Unfortunately, this is one of the instances where Giraldo milks the joke a bit too long, something he does again in Room For Desert. Like many comics, he is also riding the comedic bandwagon of how kids are fat today but he does it to good effect.
Giraldo does not,however, milk a topic. Good Day To Cross A River features fourteen tracks but thirty-eight comedy routines. This variety perhaps makes an elegant segue from one bit to another almost impossible although Giraldo does manage a few.
This stand-up comic can certainly be caustic. His bit on Illegal Aliens most certainly is. I especially liked Geraldo’s idea for the ultimate reality show, The Floater. Also very funny are the bits on modern diseases.
An American stand-up comic who doesn’t have comic material on terrorism just has not been paying attention. Giraldo’s material on the topic is pretty good and becomes stellar when he moves it to New York City.
I also liked his bit on the stupid stuff terrorism experts say when they get their fifteen minutes of fame on TV though Will Durst does it better.
The closing bit, Sexual Saturation, is Giraldo at his best.
Greg Giraldo was a regular panelist on Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn and was the host of Stand-Up Nation, both on Comedy Central
Greg Giraldo
Good Day To Cross A River
Stand-up Comedy CD
Produced by Jack Vaughn
Comedy Central Records 2006
52 minutes
Adult language and material (for those who care)
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- 80This comedy CD is a miss and hit series of routines that feel disorganized.
- 78This Carlin CD is just Bitching and Moaning By An Old Fart.
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