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| Doug Powell: Doug the Helicopter Pilot |
When I say that Doug Powell’s comedy CD is unoriginal, I say that
in the best way possible. The combination of music, sketches,
and live comedy goes back and forth in a way that keeps the
album interesting, and as a whole, it seems like something
unique, but the ingredients are unfortunately run-of-the-mill in
2007.
I have to qualify this by saying that Doug’s sense of humor is
genuine and inspired, but it happens to be about five years too
late in order to be in any way compelling. In the music world, this
would be fine, but in comedy, if you really want to make a splash,
your act either needs to be so unique that we can’t look away, or
a version of someone else’s schtick that happens to be so
incredibly funny and inspired that we just don’t notice. Doug The
Helicopter Pilot, unfortunately is neither.
in the best way possible. The combination of music, sketches,
and live comedy goes back and forth in a way that keeps the
album interesting, and as a whole, it seems like something
unique, but the ingredients are unfortunately run-of-the-mill in
2007.
I have to qualify this by saying that Doug’s sense of humor is
genuine and inspired, but it happens to be about five years too
late in order to be in any way compelling. In the music world, this
would be fine, but in comedy, if you really want to make a splash,
your act either needs to be so unique that we can’t look away, or
a version of someone else’s schtick that happens to be so
incredibly funny and inspired that we just don’t notice. Doug The
Helicopter Pilot, unfortunately is neither.
1/2
The songs are just Steven Lynch except slightly less funny. The themes are largely the same:
being a neglectful father, masturbating, wanting to get a blow job, etc… And don’t get me
wrong… If you’d never heard Steven Lynch before, you’d laugh your guts out upon hearing
most of Doug’s songs. But since Lynch paved the “lets make folk music shockingly grotesque
and funny” trail a good 5-10 years ago, you can see Doug coming every step of the way.
The most note-worthy song, “American Pakistani," is a track sung by Powell as a rapping
Pakistani 7-11 clerk who is victim of one too many gun-point robberies, and snaps, going on a
killing spree. The sound of a stereotypical Hindu voice doing ultra-violent gangsta rap is a
funny enough gimmick to produce laughs almost to the very end of this track, all of which is
rhymed over a ghetto of Stairway to Heaven.
Another standout song is his ode to his retarded girlfriend aptly named, “Retarded Girl”. This
admittedly Lynch-eqsque ditty will send you to hell for laughing faster than almost anything
I’ve heard (eat your heart out, Tickle-Finger Death Squad). If you have any sense of decency
(which most of you lost the day you discovered the Internet) this song will probably have you
writing some letters to your congressmen. Kudos to Doug on this one.
As for the spoken-word stand-up comedy on this album, Powell’s topic-less non-sequitur is
Demitri Martin minus the quirkiness. It’s Todd Barry minus the morphine-drip (and minus the
level of writing that makes Barry’s and Martin’s jokes soar). Oddly, while his songs are pure
gutter-humor, his spoken-word stage time is moderately family friendly.
Quantity wise, the stand up is vastly a minority on the album versus the songs and skits, so
I’m not about to judge his entire act on a relatively small sample of material (which isn’t
devoid of funny jokes; he has a bit about the absurdity of attempted murder which is definitely
worth a guffaw or two). But if you’re thinking about picking up this album because you’re
looking for the best new stand-up style comedy, it may not be your ticket.
Probably the strongest thing Doug The Helicopter Pilot has going for it is a recurring theme of
sketches which use Movie Phone style automatic computer voices engaging in low-brow urban
and redneck vernacular. While these segments are also very tradition-following (see Crank
Yankers and morning radio in general), they happen to be so well thought-out, produced, and
just plain funny that one must tip the hat to Powell’s creativity.
The skits, which are so well written that they’d still be funny even if they were delivered by the
kinds of voices we’re used to, explode in a textural taste sensation when we hear them spoken
by robotic voices. It’s bickering couples and telephone pranks, done by the kind of pre-
recorded semi-human voices whose every syllable has been quilted together from a bank of
data so that it ends up creating an emotionless, hilarious mess of the most vulgar and
insulting language you’ve ever heard.
These sketches succeed where some of his songs fall flat. Gutter-talk delivered in a soothing
folk song is fine, but no longer terribly hilarious. Gutter-talk delivered by the lady on your
automatic voice-mail prompt, in addition to being slightly more fresh an idea, is going to
produce far more belly-laughs.
I look forward to seeing a Doug Powell show whenever he comes through Philly, because I can
tell that he’s an entertaining guy who’s heart (and most of his head) is in the right place. His
album is probably worth buying if you really enjoy those names whose footsteps he follows.
Helicopter Pilot is one of the rare examples where the fact that there’s a little something for
everyone is not necessarily in it’s best interest.
On his next comedy album - and I definitely do hope we hear more from Doug Powell,
because Pilot, despite not exactly knocking it out of the park, shows great promise in Powell’s
craftsmanship. I hope to see more of Powell learning what his biggest strengths are and
focusing them. His “nerdy white guy rapping and dealing with urban humor” motif is an
example of a voice where Powell is naturally funny. His “lets take shock-jock banter and make
it folk-rock” thing may be more fun for him and will probably always do well in the clubs (which
admittedly is the combination that equals that which comedy is all about), but if he really
wanted to push the envelope, he’d focus on more compelling ideas and come back swinging
for the fence.
being a neglectful father, masturbating, wanting to get a blow job, etc… And don’t get me
wrong… If you’d never heard Steven Lynch before, you’d laugh your guts out upon hearing
most of Doug’s songs. But since Lynch paved the “lets make folk music shockingly grotesque
and funny” trail a good 5-10 years ago, you can see Doug coming every step of the way.
The most note-worthy song, “American Pakistani," is a track sung by Powell as a rapping
Pakistani 7-11 clerk who is victim of one too many gun-point robberies, and snaps, going on a
killing spree. The sound of a stereotypical Hindu voice doing ultra-violent gangsta rap is a
funny enough gimmick to produce laughs almost to the very end of this track, all of which is
rhymed over a ghetto of Stairway to Heaven.
Another standout song is his ode to his retarded girlfriend aptly named, “Retarded Girl”. This
admittedly Lynch-eqsque ditty will send you to hell for laughing faster than almost anything
I’ve heard (eat your heart out, Tickle-Finger Death Squad). If you have any sense of decency
(which most of you lost the day you discovered the Internet) this song will probably have you
writing some letters to your congressmen. Kudos to Doug on this one.
As for the spoken-word stand-up comedy on this album, Powell’s topic-less non-sequitur is
Demitri Martin minus the quirkiness. It’s Todd Barry minus the morphine-drip (and minus the
level of writing that makes Barry’s and Martin’s jokes soar). Oddly, while his songs are pure
gutter-humor, his spoken-word stage time is moderately family friendly.
Quantity wise, the stand up is vastly a minority on the album versus the songs and skits, so
I’m not about to judge his entire act on a relatively small sample of material (which isn’t
devoid of funny jokes; he has a bit about the absurdity of attempted murder which is definitely
worth a guffaw or two). But if you’re thinking about picking up this album because you’re
looking for the best new stand-up style comedy, it may not be your ticket.
Probably the strongest thing Doug The Helicopter Pilot has going for it is a recurring theme of
sketches which use Movie Phone style automatic computer voices engaging in low-brow urban
and redneck vernacular. While these segments are also very tradition-following (see Crank
Yankers and morning radio in general), they happen to be so well thought-out, produced, and
just plain funny that one must tip the hat to Powell’s creativity.
The skits, which are so well written that they’d still be funny even if they were delivered by the
kinds of voices we’re used to, explode in a textural taste sensation when we hear them spoken
by robotic voices. It’s bickering couples and telephone pranks, done by the kind of pre-
recorded semi-human voices whose every syllable has been quilted together from a bank of
data so that it ends up creating an emotionless, hilarious mess of the most vulgar and
insulting language you’ve ever heard.
These sketches succeed where some of his songs fall flat. Gutter-talk delivered in a soothing
folk song is fine, but no longer terribly hilarious. Gutter-talk delivered by the lady on your
automatic voice-mail prompt, in addition to being slightly more fresh an idea, is going to
produce far more belly-laughs.
I look forward to seeing a Doug Powell show whenever he comes through Philly, because I can
tell that he’s an entertaining guy who’s heart (and most of his head) is in the right place. His
album is probably worth buying if you really enjoy those names whose footsteps he follows.
Helicopter Pilot is one of the rare examples where the fact that there’s a little something for
everyone is not necessarily in it’s best interest.
On his next comedy album - and I definitely do hope we hear more from Doug Powell,
because Pilot, despite not exactly knocking it out of the park, shows great promise in Powell’s
craftsmanship. I hope to see more of Powell learning what his biggest strengths are and
focusing them. His “nerdy white guy rapping and dealing with urban humor” motif is an
example of a voice where Powell is naturally funny. His “lets take shock-jock banter and make
it folk-rock” thing may be more fun for him and will probably always do well in the clubs (which
admittedly is the combination that equals that which comedy is all about), but if he really
wanted to push the envelope, he’d focus on more compelling ideas and come back swinging
for the fence.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE FEATURES Festival Wrap Up: New York Underground Comedy Festival Hustle & Grow: STAGE TIME Celebrates 1st Anniversary Comic Resolutions 2007 Comic's Final Progress Report 2006 INTERVIEWS Brad Stine **NEW** Careers in Comedy: Ryan McCormick PR Manager COVER STORY Shang REVIEWS Angry Bob Comedy Jump Off Doug Powell Eric Schwartz James P. Connolly **NEW** Anatomy of a Joke "Racism Damnit!" Written and Performed by Shang |