Don Jamieson : Live and Hilarious
by Trevor Portz
Staff Writer
Though possibly best known for his work on Inside the NFL, comedian Don Jamieson has become a household name amongst metalheads, acting as co-host of VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show. Riding his wave of current success, Jamieson has just released a live stand-up album on Metal Blade Records. This may not be a groundbreaking work of artistic genius, but it is pretty entertaining.
Touching on everything from sex to Justin Beiber, and herpes to polictics (with, unfortunately, an instantly dated “hunt for Bin Laden” joke), Jamieson covers a wide-variety of [mostly] relevant topics. He doesn’t seem overly concerned with offending anyone, as racial and religious jokes make frequent appearances in the set. Being a seemingly open-minded crowd, though, it would seem Jamieson’s fans have no problem with this, as the audience reaction is strong throughout.
What plagues Live and Hilarious, however, is Jamieson’s failure to deliver anything new or unique. Most of his observations are just that, observations. Many of the “jokes” feel like setups to a strangely absent punch line. His anti-PC rants also feel very “been there, done that,” leaving his racially themed jabs to feel less hilarious and more a recitation of overplayed stereotypes. Controversial topics don’t play as well when they are presented too obviously and without obvious wit and sarcasm.
Now, this isn’t to say that there aren’t shining moments in the set. His description of a Pavlovian-like answer to getting his girlfriend to watch sports is both brilliant and practical. A joke about the body weight/perceived penis size phenomena also prompts him to note that it’s “hard to convince girls I’m 450-pounds overweight.” There are more than enough of these laugh-out-loud moments to keep audiences tuned in.
What did seem like a bit of a missed opportunity here was a severe lack of metal-themed jokes. Sure, as a comedian it’s best not to focus too much on one topic, but for someone so well recognized in the metal community, putting an album out on one of the longest-standing metal labels, it seems a mountain of genre-specific jokes would have made this a must-have release. The metal world needs someone to remind it how ridiculous grown men running around in tight leather pants and corpse paint really is. Plus, who else would be able to effectively make a joke about Blackie Lawless’ man boobs to an audience that actually gets it?
While Live and Hilarious may not make Don Jamieson and international comedy sensation, it is a decent release from one of metal’s biggest supporters. It’s just too bad the album feels a bit like a Malmsteen record—the star has plenty of talent, he just doesn’t always seem to know how to use it.
Genre: Comedy
Label: Metal Blade Records
Website: www.donjamieson.com
Hardrock Haven rating: 6.1/10