I promise that we'll cover a lot of ground in this blog, including albums that weren't released in 2011, but I couldn't resist following up one of the most relentlessly positive comedians working today ("Live! Live your LIFE!") with something of a counterpoint.
It's not that Rory Scovel isn't likable. It's that, unlike many comedians, Scovel isn't afraid to spend time on stage not actively trying to be likable. He's willing to let his stage persona be what it is, and yet it never feels like he's holding the audience at arm's-length, the way a performer like Anthony Jeselnik (as great as he is) sometimes does. That a good chunk of his debut record is devoted to crowd work and in-the-moment demonstrates just how integral a sense of intimacy is to Scovel's style of comedy, and you get the sense that even after several minutes ridiculing a woman's apparently misguided love of her native Michigan, no ill will or grudges could possibly have been fostered.
Dilation is full of jokes that springboard Scovel into seeming tangents, several of which unfold as bits unto themselves. And the fact that every moment truly feels organic and natural proves just how much work it takes to make comedy seem so effortless.
(Dilation is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify)
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