It should have been titled Profit. There is no other explanation for releasing this 21 year old recording.
The cover for this stand-up comedy MP3 album and CD has Black look like Moses because this is a comedy desert. The sound quality suggests somebody recorded over an old cassette tape.
This is a 1990 recording and Black is still working on his patter and his anger. Some of the material here such as the Nyquil and the Christmas bits is going to appear on later recordings. Other material is so dated you almost need liner notes to figure out what the comic is talking about. Topics such as Dan Quayle, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, or Gorby were done much better and much funnier by other comics in the nineties.
Most annoying of all is the assumption here that Black was somewhat prophetic and this makes this moldy oldie interesting. Nope. Not even close.
Black may be an entertaining angry comic but he never was that prescient a political or social analyst.
Black is enjoyable (this stand-up comedy MP3 album being the glaring exception) because he vents what many of us feel and think from time to time. He is comedy’s equivalent to the horror or action flick for guys and romcom for chicks. Prophet is like listening to some old fart bitch about stuff nobody cares about anymore.
Monty Python was honest enough to call some releases Contractual Obligation Album or The Final Ripoff. Lewis Black The Prophet is both.
The Prophet
Lewis Black
Stand-up comedy MP3 and CD
Comedy Central Records 2011
Check out our Comedy Central Records page
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