Daniel Tosh "True Stories I Made Up" Comedy Central $14.99 B-
Stand-up comedy, like middle-eastern food, comes in two extremes: it's either a tasty eclectic adventure, or it causes intense nausea and discomfort immediately after intake. Comedian Daniel Tosh is a rare exception to this rule. His "True Stories I Made Up" act walks the fine line between relatively entertaining and barely tolerable.
"True Stories" was released on Nov. 8 and contains Tosh's 50-minute stand-up CD as well as a DVD of his 30-minute Comedy Central stand-up special, "Comedy Central presents Daniel Tosh." Tosh has appeared on programs such as "The Late Show with David Letterman" and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend." He is billed as "one of the most requested headliners in the country," but judging from his act, it remains to be seen why.
From the start of his DVD, it's blatantly obvious that Tosh is not cut out for large audiences. His 30-minute special was so scattered and amateurish that it would better suit a dingy urban nightclub with a two-drink minimum. At least the alcohol would have made his offensive and often-racist jokes go down smoother.
Completely lacking any semblance of structure, Tosh bounces childishly about the stage and relies on his good looks and facial expressions to carry him through. That's not to say none of the random jokes he throws the audience's way are good for a chuckle. His mild southern accent makes his saying of things like "cooter" and "queer" cute in a "Dukes of Hazzard" kind of way. He occasionally even borders on clever and entertaining, but generally loses track when the going gets good.
From the CD portion, it becomes even clearer that Tosh is no comedic genius. He pales in comparison to the likes of Kevin James or even Dane Cook, whose visually devoid CD segments have the listener staring open-mouthed at a blank laptop screen and gasping for breaths between bouts of laughter. Without his stage presence to back him up, Tosh's CD jokes fall short, and many of them are recycled from his DVD.
There are a few gems, however, especially when he mocks political figures and pop culture icons like MTV and "Survivor." For example: "President Bush: that's why you don't tell a retarded child he can be anything he wants when he grows up."
Lines such as that prove that Tosh is capable of better, but simply chooses to stay in the realm of redundant boob-job jokes. Tosh sums it best on his own when he says after a particularly sexist pun, "There's no depth to my shallowness." The same goes for his humor.
