Rodney Dangerfield (born Jack Roy) got the respect he deserved late in his career. Many believe he burst onto the scene in the classic Caddyshack but it is No Respect, his 1980 release Grammy Award winning comedy album and CD taped at his comedy club, Dangerfield’s, that proved beyond a doubt this man was a giant. Dangerfield died October 5. 2004 and, like many other great artists before him, the comedy community came out to pay respect to this great stand-up comic.
No Respect is basically a best of Rodney Dangerfield. This stand-up comedy CD draws its material way back to the Borscht Belt era. Borscht Belt comedy is characterized by rapid fire self-deprecating humor usually with some kind of a catch phrase (Take my wife, please.) or attitude that unites the many strung together one-liners.
Everybody in Rodney Dangerfield’s world is a source of ridicule towards him. His child-hating (or is it Rodney hating?) mother, his kids, his supposedly promiscuous wife, his friend all seem to put him down.
Dangerfield also puts himself down of course on No Respect but the forte of this stand-up comedy CD is definitely the atmosphere you can actually hear in the room. This recording shows Dangerfield at the top of his form and in perfect symbiosis with his audience.
The two tracks on No Respect, the title track and Son Of No Respect are a must for any fan of stand-up comedy. It would have been much more interesting for the listener if this comedy CD had been cut into smaller tracks so you could enjoy specific bits, such as Dangerfield’s take on show business, over and over again.
No Respect has so many different comedic genres it is almost overwhelming at times. Yes, Rodney Dangerfield does the self-deprecating humour but his writing skills allow him to explore observational comedy, relationship jokes, and, in a few, brilliant moments, how the English language lends itself to so much comedic variety such as the short bit about his son going to a tough school: “The teacher asked the kids what comes after a sentence? Some kid answered The appeal.”
There are quite a few free goodies on Dangerfield’s website Rodney.com
No Respect
Rodney Dangerfield
stand-up comedy CD
Universal Music
41 minutes
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