An advisory in the world of comedy immediately begs provocation. Don’t Wake the Bear, the new album from Dan Cummins, is a title which does that. Ok, let’s have a listen. Cummins opens the album with “no complaints but occasionally hungry.” This is the set up the act. He doesn’t want to hate people, but he was raised with decency and manners. He loves his girlfriend, but she talks too much. His kids are smart, but he is afraid they maybe too smart.
The comedian’s energy transcends the recording. He speaks fast and conversationally, like he is anticipating the reactions of the audience’s thoughts. He starts many bits a “yeah,” as though he is answering what he thinks the is being projected at him. The excitable delivery leaves him breathy at times. Though the fast pace keeps the album moving forward, his word choice progresses the laughter. His combinations of words are on fleek. He creates a weightiness from how he strings them together.
From the top, he demonstrates this while describing an old, frail woman who remarked on Cummin’s strength. By this point, the comedian has already declared himself the Hercules of his gym– he only works out where most of the members are geriatric and appear weak. He arrogantly responds, describing her body as “old bird bones and paper maché.” His self importance in addition to the inventive way of labeling this woman’s body is very funny. This is his potency. He does this when he articulates the mixed signals from his girlfriend. She is telling him eat healthier while feeding him, “shame biscuits and guilt wafters.” Again, he does it describing a baby pacifier dependency in stating, “Binkies are baby smokes.” Cummins says so much in four words.
Throughout the album, he crafts humor in this way. On gun control, he points out mental illness can be found using pictures, observing crazed gun men are “photogenically insane.” While the joke is a sensitive topic for Americans, the observation sparks laughter. Many of the topics on this album include subtly dark or sensitive topics. Aside from gun control and dying old people, Cummins mentions the failed justice system, sexual harassment, and spousal abuse to name a few. The closer of the album is an analogous children’s story about Daddy Bear explaining the real world to his cubs. Continuing on the theme of the album, the story gets dark, and particular wording makes it something to chuckle at. The comedian finds a light hearted way to comment on the unsatisfactory reality.
Dan Cummins is not complaining. He is just calling it what it is, and it’s ok to laugh at. While the title sounds like a warning, the actual album is one worth listening to. Don’t Wake the Bear is a definite must!
You can pick up Dan Cummins: Don’t Wake the Bear right here.
