# Best Comedy Albums of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178 "2001-05-22T12:15:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/1 "2001-05-22T12:15:37Z")
Anna Russell Sings…Again? (now compiled with other stuff (and out of order on) [“The Anna Russell Album?”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000027JD/o/qid=990533024/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_pm_1_1/107-3309223-8667751)) is arguably the (intentionally) funniest 40 minutes of vinyl ever recorded. (I put the “intentionally” in there, so as to leave the question of Billy Joel’s post-Christie Brinkly work aside) Ms. Russell is an older woman who sounds somewhat like Miss Hathaway from The Beverly Hillbillies. This album has a couple of generally ignored masterpieces: The first is her “How to Do Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta”, and the other! "An Analysis of the Ring of the Neibulungen(sp) The first time I heard it, I laughed so hard that my sides literally ached. I had to stop the album several times so I could breath. The upshot is that she explains Wagner’s Ring Cycle in terms that common folk can understand. She describes the Rhine Maidens as “a sort of aquatic Andrew Sisters”. Siegfreid is “very strong and very handsome: a regular ‘Little Abner’ type”. Trust me: it’s far better than my description makes it sound. I’d also recommend Andy Griffith’s comedy album (don’t remember the title). Yes, the treacly, cuddly Andy Griffith from Mayberry had an album way back when that had some good routines and one great one: “What it was, was Football” (about a hick/hillbilly who ends up at a football game and provides running commentary.) Bob Newhart’s second album (The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back) is classic Newhart. Newhart does his classic telephone routine several times, the best of which is: "What would happen if Abe Lincoln had handlers? “No Abe: DON’T change it to 87 years. Four Score and Seven tests better. Whaddaya _mean_ you shaved off the beard?!” Bill Cosby’s “Why is there Air” is great too. Any others? Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/2 "2001-05-22T12:25:28Z")
I would nominate several of the Firesign Theatre’s albums, particularly “How Can You Be in Two Places at Once, When You’re Not Anywhere At All” including the incomparable “Antelope Freeway” segment featuring Ralph Sport Sport Motors here in the lovely city of Emphasema. As the good folks at [allmusic](http://www.allmusic.com/) say: > [@](#): > > Featuring better production than the debut album, Two Places at Once is a much tighter affair, with much happening throughout. Side one features a number of smaller sketches, with social commentary interwoven with smart television and radio parodies. It’s side two, however, that makes this album worth having. The side-long “Further Adventures of Nick Danger” is a nearly perfect parody of a detective radio play, with sharp wordplay and interesting characters. The more fully developed nature of the piece makes the album worth repeated listening, which isn’t the case with many other comedy albums released at about the same time. — Sean Carruthers Hometownboy ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/3 "2001-05-22T12:42:25Z")
Beat me to Firesign Theater. Either “How Can You be Two Places at Once” or “Don’t Crush that Dwarf, Hand me the Pliers.” Their comedy was so dense that you can listen again and again and still find new jokes. Newhart’s “Button Down Mind” is a classic. Chris Rush “First Rush.” Rush had a unique style – a setup and four or five punch lines in a row. I never laughed more than listening to this. Albert Brooks “Comedy Minus One.” One side is a very funny monologue about his opening for Richie Havens. The second lets _you_ be the comedian. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/4 "2001-05-22T12:55:53Z")
Well, I’ll nominate almost any of Cosby’s old stuff, “Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow…Right!,” “To Russell My Brother Whom I Slept With,” and “Why is There Air?” come to mind immediately. Craig Shoemaker’s “The Lovemaster” is pretty good. Don’t know if it was ever an album, but Dennis Miller’s video “Mr. Miller Goes to Washington” is a riot. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/5 "2001-05-22T13:04:28Z")
I’ll chime in on Bob Newharts’ (although I can ‘do’ most of the ‘why is there air’ routine still) On another take, are the Rhino classic “Golden Throat” series (of unintentionally funny) gigs. Remembering the 70’s where every second banana on every almost succesful tv show cut a record, in addition to the first banana on some, and rejects from the Love Boat on others. So you have Sebastian Cabot singing Bob Dylan, Shatner’s _Lucy. Inthesky. With Diamonds_, Leonard Nimoy’s timeless classic \*Proud Mary \* ('big wheel keep on turn **ing** \_), Mae West singing \*Twist & Shout \*, and others too painful to be remembered. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/6 "2001-05-22T13:32:12Z")
I’ve got the Anna Russell (“You know, I’m not making this up”), both of Bob Newhart’s _Buttoned-Down Mind_ albums, and a fond memory of a Bill Cosby album titled _200 M.P.H._ (“Oh, WOW!”), and they are all uproariously funny. Others from my favorites: Eddie Murphy’s first album. “Say, man, somebody stole yo’ batt-ry!” Richard Pryor’s “Here and Now,” his first one after the fire. “What _that_? Richard Pryor runnin’ down the street!” Steve Martin’s “Comedy is Not Pretty,” if only for “Cruel Shoes.” Andrew “Dice” Clay’s first album. John “Mighty Mouth” Moschitta’s (sp?) _10 Classics in 10 Minutes_. “… and _dies_.” ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/7 "2001-05-22T13:43:29Z")
These are all good choices, but we have to pick just one? Well, there are a lot of contenders. 😕 Cosby’s stuff is great and anything by George Carlin will be on my list of desert island discs, but my absolute favorites are Bob and Ray and Stan Freberg. Freberg’s “History of the United States of America” is hilarious. If you’ve never heard his “Best Of” album you owe it to yourself to pick it up. His sensibilities are as off-kilter as mine and although by now I can recite most of the bits on both of those albums from memory I still laugh like a banshee whenever I listen to them. Bob and Ray are one of the greatest comedy teams ever. While they’re not so much off-center as just goofy, their radio-show style routines such as “Elmer W. Litzinger, Spy” sponsored by the likes of “Monongahela Metals Corporation, the foundry that casts its steel ingots with the housewife in mind” are incredible. Both of these guys are incredibly talented and their humor is off the chart. When I drove from Harrisburg to New Orleans last year I took about a dozen comedy albums with me to pass the time when I got sick of music. While I enjoyed them all, Stan, Bob, and Ray where the only guys whose humor made me laugh hard enough to almost lose control of the car. Yer pal, Zappo ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/8 "2001-05-22T13:51:18Z")
I’ll cast a vote for Rodney Dangerfield’s _No Respect_ and a lot of Richard Pryor albums. My favorite RP is probably _Bicentennial N_\*\*_r._ ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/9 "2001-05-22T14:48:49Z")
Anything by Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez. Anything by Monty Python (I’m suprised they haven’t been mentioned yet. Michael Finney’s album… (I’m sorry, I don’t remember the title.) ---
**Author:** ![unixrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3ec8ea/32.png) [@unixrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unixrat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/10 "2001-05-22T15:31:32Z")
Steve Martin’s _Let’s Get Small_ (IIRC) - I don’t recall the title exactly, but I still repeat bits of it every now and then. “…bought a fur-lined sink.” “I have four dollars, guess I’ll throw it in the street. What? I can come in here for four dollars? Okay. … What happens?” There was a Cheech and Chong album that I listened to as a young’n. Scandalous for us at the time - I don’t know where we got a copy, but we hoarded it like the Ark of the Covenant. “Bob… What is Your Name?” ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/11 "2001-05-22T15:49:30Z")
_Songs by Tom Lehrer_ _More Songs by Tom Lehrer_ I think these are two of the funniest albums ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/12 "2001-05-22T16:32:09Z")
Dennis Miller’s “Off White Album.” I’ve listened to it hundreds of times and still laugh at the part about the Craftmatic Adjustable Bed. May I second “What it Was, Was Football” - I heard that on the radio a while back and almost wrecked my car, I was laughing so hard. Most of Cosby’s stuff, but particularly “Why is there Air?” (for the phenomenal “Driving in San Francisco”) and “Himself” (for the Dentist Sketch). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/13 "2001-05-22T16:38:31Z")
I grew up listening to my mom’s collection of Bill Cosby albums, I think she has all of 'em. My favorite is **200M.P.H.** and I still think of “dumbguy, dumbguy, dumbguy” when it’s raining and I see someone without their wipers going. Mom also had some Alan Sherman albums, my favorite of those was **My Son the Nut**. A couple of years ago, I found Alan Sherman CDs, I bought **My Son the Greatest** for Angie. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/14 "2001-05-22T16:49:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hastur \* > \*\*_Songs by Tom Lehrer_ > _More Songs by Tom Lehrer_ > > I think these are two of the funniest albums ever made. \*\* I’ve got to say that while these two albums are wonderful, Lehrer’s masterpiece has gotta be “That Was the Year That Was”, if only for “The Vatican Rag” and the magnificent: “National Brotherhood Week”: Oh the white folks hate the black folks nd the black folks hate the white folks and the Hindus hate the Moslems and everybody hates the Jews! But during National Brotherhood Week National Brotherhood Week Lena Horne and Sherriff Clarke(?) are dancing cheek-to-cheek It’s fun to shake the hand of someone you can’t stand…etc Lerher was a God. Fenris Fenris ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/15 "2001-05-22T17:03:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\*Lerher was a God. > > Fenris \*\* Didn’t he do ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’ and the “Masochism Tango” ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/16 "2001-05-22T17:32:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Fenris \* > > \*\*Lerher was a God. > > > > Fenris \*\* > > Didn’t he do ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’ and the “Masochism Tango” \*\* Yes he did. Those are two of my favorite songs on my Dr. Demento albums. While we’re at it… I always laugh at Bill Cosby…Himself. Noah, the dentist bit… Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/17 "2001-05-22T22:44:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \* > \*\* > While we’re at it… I always laugh at Bill Cosby…Himself. Noah, the dentist bit… > > Zev Steinhardt \*\* Sorry, my bad. Bill Cosby “Himself” doesn’t have Noah. (Riiiight!) However, it has these routines “Natural Child Birth” – “Natural Child Birth means that no drugs will be administered to the mother during the birth. The father can have all he wants.” “Brain Damage”, “Kill the Boy” and “Same Thing Happens Every Night” are great routines about the family dynamics in the “Cosby” household. “Chocolate Cake for Breakfast” is one of the best. “Eggs, Milk, Wheat! are all in the Chocolate Cake!” Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/18 "2001-05-22T23:32:37Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fenris \* > \*\* > "An Analysis of the Ring of the Neibulungen(sp) The first time I heard it, I laughed so hard that my sides literally ached. I had to stop the album several times so I could breath. The upshot is that she explains Wagner’s Ring Cycle in terms that common folk can understand. She describes the Rhine Maidens as “a sort of aquatic Andrew Sisters”. Siegfreid is “very strong and very handsome: a regular ‘Little Abner’ type”._\* “I’m not making this up, you know.” I’d give another nod to the Firesign Theatre, but for my money their best album in terms of overall theme and humor was “I Think We’re All Bozos On This Bus.” Most people don’t catch on that it’s pretty much a parody of Disneyland. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/19 "2001-05-23T03:12:11Z")
The older George Carlin stuff was side-splitting when I listened to them in my tender years: “AM/FM” and “Occupation: Foole” in particular. The Bill Cosby albums as well: “Wonderfulness,” and “To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With.” Martin Mull’s **Perfect/Near Perfect** has to be his best album. The others are **very** uneven, but P/NP is definitely his best work. My favorite of the Firesign Theater’s has to be “How Can You Be,” although their version of Shakespeare on “Not Insane” would be right up there if the sound wasn’t so crappy (it was taped from a live performance). Sad to say that I’ve listened to some of their stuff since, and they’ve really gone downhill. Then there’s Tom Lehrer, one of mankind’s greatest losses to satire . . . First you get down on your knees Fiddle with your rosary Bow your head with great respect and Genuflect! Genuflect! Genuflect! Make a cross on your abdomen When in Rome do like the Romans Ave Maria! Gee it’s good to see ya Gettin’ radical Gettin’ estatical Doin’ the Vatican Rag! (Ah, and there’s “Alma” with Gustav and Mahler and Franz! My first introduction to Bauhaus and contemporary classical music at age 9. . . ) ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178/20 "2001-05-23T03:12:47Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned George Carlin!!! _The 7 Words You Can’t Say on Radio or TV_–although that might not be the name of the album itself. All his routines, especially from the 70’s crack me up every time I hear them. When he talks about the differences between baseball and football, I laugh so hard that milk comes out my nose (assuming I’m drinking milk at the time, of course). in fact, i have learned not to try to eat or drink anything if I’m listening to him. i have got to get his albums. This in no way diminishes my admiration for Bob Newhart, Richard Pryor, and Tom Leher, they too are comedy gods. And i saw a young woman on Comedy Central the other night–based on what I saw, I’d pay to see her live, and I’d buy a CD, if i ever remember her name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-comedy-albums-of-all-time/66178.md?page=2)