John Mulaney - New In Town

After years on the comedy scene and stints writing for SNL and Conan (I believe), John Mulaney got a lot of notice with his 2009 debut The Top Part. The recording topped the iTunes comedy charts and Punchline magazine year end best-ofs and now Mulaney is back with New In Town. 

If you enjoyed Mulaney previously, rest assured that while the jokes are different, a lot of the same ground is covered on New In Town. Longtime fans can take confidence that the Law & Order joke about Jerry Orbach from The Top Part is swapped for a (truthfully, pretty aces) 2012 compliant bit about Ice-T and SVU. In other somewhat related notes, a well-known Dana Gould joke is also 'covered' in surprisingly flagrant fashion.

Mulaney doesn't work blue, treading the same path Mike Birbiglia has done pretty well with in recent years, albeit in slightly edgier form. That said, while the Def Comedy Jam bit here was/is sort of new 'airline food is bad' fare for 2012, the bit about Delta Airlines is actually pretty funny and 'The One Thing You Can't Replace' is solid enough to very well become his signature bit. Comedy is strange like that. That Gould thing that still rankles me aside, New In Town is worth checking out. Get it here from the John Mulaney web presence.

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John Mulaney - The Top Part

John Mulaney is a local guy. A product of the New York City comedy scene and the SNL writers pool, I had seen him on late night TV a couple times and was pleased to find that Comedy Central had thrown him a bone and put The Top Part out. His bio mentions stints on The Comedians Of Comedy Tour with Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn and opening dates for Mike Birbiglia and there couldn't be a better description of the comedic cross-pollenation Mulaney puts out. He's got the edge of the C.o.C set and the everyman aw-shucksness of Birbiglia. I'd check it out and get ahead of the game, as I see big things for Mulaney in the future.

The Top Part should do a lot in getting him some notice. Mulaney doesn't work especially blue, nor does he really talk about sex or politics, so you can give this to your parents or more straight-laced friends. The Law & Order bit is worth the price of admission, enough that you can forgive his horrible website logo. The other bits about late night subway travel, Donald Trump and organ donation are pretty great, too. Doubters or those desiring of visual stimulation can see video clips of the material at the official John Mulaney site here. I didn't poke around too far, but I assume you can get The Top Part there, too.

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