28 | July | 2014 | Eleventh Stack

Hoopla has nothing to do with the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla by Starship (a.k.a., Jefferson Starship) which contains the song “We Built This City” which I think might be the worst song to emerge out of the 1980s. No, this hoopla (yes, the company branders always write it without capitalizing) is a newer eCLP library service that is marketed as a provider of movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and music albums. It indeed has those things. But you know what I use it for? Comedy albums. There are about 250 of them in there to stream or download with classics like Steve Martin and Richard Pryor plus newer sensations like Jim Gaffigan. TIP: find them in the music category or just search for “comedy.”

Here are some I’ve checked out lately:

You might know Marc Maron from his WTF podcast/radio show. For his stand-up comedy, he claims he doesn’t prepare: “In my mind, if I don’t prepare and I pull this off, I’m a !@#$ing genius…and if I don’t pull it off, eh, I didn’t prepare.” His style is rambling, self-deprecating, and confessional, and I think he indeed does pull it off.

Pittsburgh’s own Anthony Jeselnik is the opposite of Maron. He has a measured, deliberate delivery and his comic persona is ridiculously narcissistic. As for his material, be warned, it is some of the most un-PC, offensive, and if you like that sort of thing, hilarious, comedy out there.

Also offensive and funny is Amy Schumer (who as it happens, used to date Jeselnik) who smartly takes on and plays with the identity of a promiscuous party girl.

I knew about Tig Notaro’s candid, stunning album that she made after being diagnosed with cancer, but until hoopla, I hadn’t heard her earlier album, Good One. She is a master of deadpan delivery.

Those of you who have seen Demetri Martin on TV might think of him as a prop or a visual comic. But he fares very well is purely audio form. Here is a joke of his, for example, “Separate but equal is terrible for education but perfect for eyebrows.”

While I’m quoting jokes, I have to share the lesser known Kyle Kinane’s absurd description of pho soup: “If you don’t know what pho is, it’s a Vietnamese soup that answers the question: what happens when a former child soldier pours hot rainwater over fish nightmares?”