Tom Simmons – Next One

Next One
Tom Simmons
Stand-up comedy CD
Independent Release

Next (One) is the second independent release stand-up comedy CD by comic Tom Simmons. As we received all three of Tom Simmons’ comedy CDs at the same time, it is very probable this review is influenced by the first CD, (One), which shares material with this second, and the third and very good CD Live McCurdy’s Comedy Theater. Next (One) shows a strong Bill Hicks influence and although this reviewer enjoys Bill Hicks as a stand-up comic, the idea of mixing musical intros, outros, and interludes with comedy never really worked and is more an affectation than any real form of serious art. Music is music, comedy is comedy, and never the twain shall meet. Comedy is an art form in itself and doesn’t need any musical enhancement to be seen as such. The fact the musical interludes on Next (One) are particularly uninteresting doesn’t help.

The Bill Hicks influence on Next (one), the second independent comedy CD release by Tom Simmons however and fortunately goes beyond the musical flotsam between comedy tracks. Tom Simmons is a social and political stand-up comic and his take on things is funny and interesting. This stand-up comic not only covers serious political topics like Israel and Palestine, the War Against Terrorism, and Bush Vs. Evil, but also lesser-known important social issues such as Littering and FIV (cat Aids). His take on PETA vs. the sharks is very original and funny. Track 15, Salvation Army echoes a bit by Bill Maher about finding your donated clothes on CNN being worn by some guy in another country. It pays to listen carefully to some of these tracks as the humor can sometimes be darker than you would expect.

A favorite is Act 3, with tracks like Crime in Sports -there are not too many Ty Cobb jokes out there anymore, Celebrating Athletes, Banners at Sporting Events. Unfortunately, track 21 is annoying as the blend between boring music and stand-up comedy is badly done so you get both at the same time.

Tom Simmons is an original when it comes to stand-up comedy. I had never heard a funny take on Roadside Crosses before and this guy manages to make it funny. Track 23, Serena, is a funny skit on relationships that works pretty well.

Other funny bits on Next (One) by Tom Simmons are Real Sex on HBO and WWJD (what would Jesus do?) as in the WWJD line of sex products.

Although this is a solid comedy CD, the musical flotsam is annoying and, most important, the sound quality is not always ideal. There is nothing more annoying than having to adjust the volume while listening to stand-up comedy because the sound is either too low or the stand-up comic has decided to start screaming into the mike.

Next (One) is a real enhanced CD. Many so-called enhanced CD only contain a couple of boring pictures, or sometimes actual infomercials for other products by that particular company, but here you get a cool video clip featuring a couple of the Cracka’ Please skits with Tom Simmons and the very funny Costaki Economopoulos. Unfortunately, this is not mentioned anywhere on the CD so you either find it accidentally (by playing the comedy CD on your computer and having auto load selected – by the way the audio tracks do not play on a computer unless you work at it) by listening to the last musical track all the way to the end, or by getting an email from Tom Simmons mentioning the fact.

Next One
Tom Simmons
Stand-up comedy CD
Independent Release

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