Welcome to Spit Take Saturday, courtesy of Brown Paper Tickets’ Comedy Doer Julie Seabaugh and her professional comedy criticism site The Spit Take. Julie’s goal with the site is to “elevate the public perception of stand-up comedy to that of a legitimate art form, and to enable comedy criticism be taken as seriously as that of theater, film, music, food, even video games. No a**-kissing. No bias. No mercy. Just honest, unfiltered, long-form reviews written by professional, knowledgeable comedy critics.” 

Every week Julie will select an entry from the site to be included on our blog and hand-pick some related events happening that week that she feels all you comedy lovers out there will appreciate.

So, without further ado, let us introduce you to this week’s Spit Take Saturday!

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Host of the semi-monthly and always well-booked Tell Your Friends! stand-up show (as well as podcast of the same name), Liam McEneaney’s been a staple of the New York comedy scene for more than a decade. And on his debut album, Comedian, the 34-year-old culls together his greatest hits for an hour of comedy that skillfully integrates both profundity and frivolity, with nary a dull moment throughout.

After opening with some positive affirmations spoken over a cello—“Today was another day”; “Love is beautiful, but porn is easy”—McEneaney speaks candidly about his dating life, asserting that he’s happy, or at the very least, content, with being single. The problem, though, is that his friends view his lack of a partner not as a choice, but rather “a symptom of something.” Now in his 30s, McEneaney considers himself having skipped his first marriage (we all knew it wouldn’t work out, after all) and now having moved on to his second, which is really just a relationship of convenience.

McEneaney never dives into a full-fledged unleashing of the soul, but he clearly hints at the anxieties and occasional struggles simmering below the surface. This makes sense, as any sort of unbridled confession wouldn’t remain in tone with the rest of the performance. McEneaney thrives on that careful balancing act between revealing too much and not opening up enough, like when speaking about his parents’ three cats (in his parents’ words, “four cats would be crazy”) and how he’s “fighting for space in the will” with them.

This isn’t to say all of Comedian is an exercise in self-examination. McEneaney also talks about people he’s met throughout his life, like his teenage friend “God Damn Eddie,” who sold drugs out of ice cream trucks and tried to rob a bank with a water gun. Then there are the embarrassing moments that have stuck with McEneaney, like his unintentionally racist altercation with a 10-year-old or his drunken gaffe at a company Christmas party.

There’s also the (through little fault of his own) extensive crowd work McEneaney must perform, eventually forcing him to beg, in faux-exasperation, “Can I finish my album!?” Two of the 17 tracks—about eight minutes—are dedicated to McEneaney being interrupted (a couple times by friends) and having to course-correct. At one point after mocking an audience member, he says, with no change in tone, “I’m just kidding. Thank you for coming to my album taping and talking,” to big applause. He then follows it up with, “Sorry to hurt your feelings while I was doing my job on an incredibly important night.”

Crowd work can be a crutch, and it rarely deserves to make it onto an album. But in this case it does, as McEneaney blends the incidents as seamlessly as he can into the performance as a whole, making Comedian feel less like an after-the-fact collection of MP3s, and more like the actual comedy show it is—vibrant, alive and waiting to be experienced.

By Daniel Berkowitz

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In addition to McEneaney’s Tell Your Friends!, New York City never fails to offer a wide selection of top comedy events.

Friday, October 11 I This Show is Bendis’ Fault – Unofficial New York ComicCon Standup Comedy Show united under the banner of Brian Michael Bendis and the Jinxworld Forums. Comedy from Scotland Green, Chris Coleman, Short Stack and Evan Valentine, with very special host Pat Loika.

Saturday, October 19 I TELL-A-THON – Blowout is back with the Second TELL-A-THON: a night of food, drinks, great stories, and post show revelry.  And the whole thing is hosted by 18 time Moth Story Slam Winner – Adam Wade. Adam has been performing in New York for a decade everywhere from down at Under St. Marks, to renowned Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. He’s been written about in the New York Times and Time Out New York; told stories all along the east coast; and appeared on NPR, TedxPenn Quarter, and numerous podcasts.

Saturday, October 26 I The Screw You Revue – A Vegas-inspired, hilarious, raunchy, improv comedy! Join Lady Winifred and Didi Panache for for a side-splitting evening of shocking fun as they challenge the threshold of each audience by proving that absolutely no subject is taboo.This dynamic duo has not only toured the U.S. but around the world. They have also won awards in the Orlando Fringe Festival and performed in numerous national and international festivals.