Jamie Kilstein opens his stand-up comedy CD Please Buy My Jokes with routines on drugs and booze.

I definitely like his ability to freshen the topic with some absurd or original observations; there is little that has not been mined with this topic, but Kilstein manages to keep you interested and smiling. This stuff is, in a way, just a set-up for the much edgier material at the end of the show.

The drug jokes segue nicely into some light political material and a couple of jabs but not knockout punches at Chuck Norris. Beat the Gay is an interesting routine though early on it relies on a visual Kilstein tries to describe to the Please Buy My Jokes CD audience. The bit itself, about religion and homosexuality, is pretty funny stuff. I would have liked to get a hint at the masturbation prayer. Also fun to listen to is Sanctity of Marriage. This too is not fresh ground but the stand-up comic does freshen it up a bit with the spousal abuse bit.

Zombie Jesus, even with its somewhat varying sound level, is a very good, original bit. Not to oversell this too short for my taste routine but there is a bit of a Carlin feel to it. It segues into a pretty solid dig at religion (though the wheels almost come off with the old man at the grocery store section).

Obama may have won, but Jamie Kilstein’s McCain bit is a winner. The Islam bit on Please Buy My Jokes is fresh, original, and dark enough to get the audience squirming. Pay attention and you’ll love the America, death penalty, and crime and punishment tag. This is the kind of joke construction every comic will be impressed by.

The last bit is a series of shorthand jokes where the Seinfeld-like “What’s the deal with?” sets up some pretty nasty stuff: a mirror of this stand-up comedy CD in general.

The difference between a young comic and a veteran stand-up comedian is range but also rhythm. A young comic like Jamie Kilstein tends to break his rhythm, a seasoned stand-up comic will not. This is just an observation.

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Jamie Kilstein
Stand-up Comedy CD
Stand Up! Records 2008
46 minutes

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