Stand-up Tom Shillue, who some know as the opening act for Jim Gaffigan, has set out to release a new stand-up comedy album every month for 12 months.
The comedy mp3s are 1.99 per two track album (but only through his website) and most so far are a safe bet if you like clean stand-up and / or long form. This review covers Dancing Alone. It is very representative of Shillue’s and this series’ strengths and weaknesses.
Dancing Alone is number 8 in the series. On this one Shillue tells the story of how he spent a good five years going to two or three proms every year. He bought a tuxedo jacket and with it was always ready to be someone’s prom date.
Tom Shillue is excellent at telling the story and putting you in the moment. Here, he is helped with a bit of audio by The Lions, the local band he is talking about. Dancing Alone focuses on two stories. The first is about Christine, the girl he had his eye on and went steady with for a while. The second is about a beautiful girl who lived with a bunch of rednecks on Old Skunk Road.
Tom Shillue’s weakness is he never nails his endings and often leaves the listener on his appetite. In the first story Christine has a nervous breakdown and the story pretty much ends like that. In the second story, the comic speculates on what could have happened if he had taken the girl to New York City instead of driving her home. His imagination does not really rise to the occasion and the story falls flat.
If I was to give Shillue the benefit of the doubt, I would think he decided not to embellish his rather interesting tales. If that is so, it is not a really wise decision.
The only two album I would stay away from so far are Lateral Thinking Puzzles where Tom Shillue sets up a logic puzzle for his audience but only he has the key and the answer. The album titled Edgy does not really contain anything like that.
Dancing Alone
Tom Shillue
Stand-up Comedy MP3 album
BSeenMedia 2013
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