Happy Thoughts

Audio Mixer: Bob Bass.
Director: Beth McCarthy.
Editor: Ian Stearns.
Daniel Tosh's first album since his Tosh.0 television show exploded in popularity finds the caustic comedian as sharp as ever, cutting down everything that makes him the least bit irritated in a manner that's equally hilarious and venomous. Happy Thoughts -- and that's an ironic title if there ever were one -- is considerably deeper than his television series, and while it's hard to defend a man who plays practical jokes on the elderly and turns fatal auto accidents involving children into routines, this live set shows that Tosh keeps getting better at his craft, building on what made his debut album, True Stories I Made Up, so good while pushing the boundaries of good taste even further. "If you've been reading my Twitter feed you'll know I had diarrhea this morning" is only the beginning, and even if you need a cast-iron stomach plus a penchant for the politically incorrect to tolerate the even ruder behavior, Tosh is talented enough to draw a laugh out of the wholesome, up to and including America's pastime ("Baseball is one strike away from being soccer"). One last warning, the "who cares" track list is representative of this comedian's flippancy, but if that pushes you toward "love him" rather than "hate him," Happy Thoughts is a smart-ass triumph and arguably his best work to date. ~ David Jeffries