Doug Stanhope: Beer Hall Putsch

Doug is getting old, and likes to say it. Never the beaming ray of sunshine, lately his pitch black comedy has taken a turn for the depressing, to the point where he's competing with himself on stage about being the most disgusting, and literary telling the audience he hopes someone will stop him. I still love him, and will continue to watch everything he puts out, but this is far from the acute cleverness of his earlier shows.

IMDb requires these reviews to be a certain length. So I'll include this sentence. And this. And this. And this. And this. And this. And this. And this.

Greatest comic ever. Apparently there's a minimum of ten lines on all reviews so I'm going to type as much as I possibly can about nothing while I wait for it to tell me that I've typed enough to be ready for my review to be ready for submission. To this website my review will go, and I will submit it once I write a complete 10 lines of words whatever that mens. The box I type in is a strange shape, I will continue to type for a few minutes longer. Words are being spoken by me in text for to complete this review that I have for how much I enjoyed Doug Stanhopes special, and eagerly await his next one. So therefor I type this review and apparently this isn't enough. Wait maybe I can skip lines. Like this. Or this. or that. or just keep typing. Keep Swimming. I continue to write for this review. My review should be ready for submission soon this is an unreasonable amount to expect someone to type on IMDb.com that's unreasonable. This website is beneath me.

Compared to most comedians out there this is genius. Compared to Stanhope's previous work most of this is "just good".

There is a bit in there however (about his mother) that is IMO his best bit ever recorded. Actually, it's one of the best pieces of comedy I've ever heard. He talks about a big taboo without flinching, without any winks to the audience because the comedy doesn't come from the fact that we are not supposed to laugh at this. He doesn't say dark things to get a few shock-laughs. He does a happy and lighthearted recounting of something that most would consider plain morbid.

This is cutting-edge stuff right here. It reminds me of Tig Notaro's Live. Comedy's always been about pushing the boundaries but acting like the boundary isn't there is something new and exciting. I say it's a must watch for any comedy fan. But I also must add: it is NOT FOR EVERYONE.

Doug Stanhope says everything I want to say but he does it with style and wit (and honesty). As far as I'm concerned he can never go too far because he's telling the truth. If that's too much for you then all I can suggest is stop watching but still rate him highly. One day you might need a guy like this.