Dave Attell: Hot Cross Buns

He's a genius! I love him! One of the greatest to ever do it! If it wasn't for Dave Attell, half of today's comedians would be stealing jokes that were never funny. The entire recorder segment made me laugh more than anything in stand-up that came out in the last 10 years at least. I hope every comedian is watching and taking notes, because if Dave Attell is still doing it - then the bar is finally getting raised back up. I missed funny. Every sentence in these 37 minutes of comedy gold is a one-liner. And there's plenty of non-scripted ones either. He is so clever, he is so quick and he is so genuinely, uniquely and unapologetically hilarious.

If you have been following Dave for the past 20+ years you won't be disappointed by this special. The best thing about Dave is that he still delivers the same style of back-to-back wildly inappropriate jokes without long-winded boring stories like you see on a lot of stand up specials now. In interviews he talks about keeping the special purposely short since people's attention span's now is too short with Tik-Tok, so not sure why other's are complaining about it being 40 minutes. It's the perfect length to sit down with a beer and enjoy. Dave is a comic's comic and hasn't lost the touch, glad to see him back.

One of the best joke writers of the last 30 years returns with a tour de force. He proves once again why he's your favorite comedian's favorite comedian. Attell's flow is elite, his jokes are lean with no fat, and his off-the-cuff crowd work at masterclass level. The guy does more damage in 30 minutes than most comics can do in an hour. He hits almost every "hot topic" issue out there, but in a way that isn't cliche or telling of his underlying beliefs. "Hot Cross Buns" is a great accompaniment to Dave's earlier work, like Skanks for the Memories and Captain Miserable. Illustrates that quintessential rapid fire dry wit that makes Attell a breath of fresh air in a sea of lackluster self-appointed "edgy" comics.

Often imitated, but never equaled, Dave has been at this a long time. Patrice O'neal once said of the man that he has the most, "babies" out there, and he wasn't talking about a love child or twelve . He was talking about Dave's younger disciples, those who took Dave's delivery style, his cadence and even his movements. Most forgot to write good jokes, and that is where Dave Attell absolutely crushes it. This special is testament to the fact that he will never not be funny. His humor might not be for everyone, but those of us that remember him from the long ago, or maybe his Comedy Central barhopping show from way back, will not be disappointed.

Clocking in at a measly 40 minutes, this special is way too short as it is. And while the first 30 minutes or so are pretty great, with Attell back in form, harping on well loved subjects such as sex, drugs, and bestiality, the last 10 minutes goes off a cliff when he pulls out a flute and starts playing it for the remaining airtime... and it's just annoying. If I were to give him the benefit of the doubt, I'd say he's trying to make some double-ironic anti-joke, akin to what Andy Kaufman would do back in the day. However... seeing as he openly admits he's just filling the last minutes with flute playing to be able to get paid... I'm not entirely sure if he's even trying to be funny? It's a bit sad, as everybody knows he can be the funniest man on the planet, when he wants to be. However, I wish he'd just do a remake of his infamous Skanks for the Memories set instead, so that there would be a video of that for everyone to cherish.