Neverlution!

Recording information: The Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO (03/2011).
"We just went through the worst decade since disco, and how did we deal with it? We bitched on the Internet about medical marijuana cards and played Grand Theft Auto." That's the theme of Christopher Titus' grand Neverlution! in a nutshell as the comedian returns to a more-open ended topic -- the sad state of the world -- after two quite personal efforts, the brilliant Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding and the brutal Love Is Evol. Those felt more life Off-Broadway, One-Man Shows, while this feels more like a standup set that's held together by a topic. Titus seems re-inspired by the format, launching the show with "At the millennium we partied like it was 1999, and then we had a ten year hangover," and moving on to specific examples like "Husky" kids (so unfit, they're "'causin' pedophiles to throw up"), and the apathetic "Text Nation" aka the "U.S. of American Idol". The set is fat, sprawling over two discs as it meanders its way around Titus' post-Kardashian wasteland, but the laughs come fast and heavy in parts, validating all the slow, snicker-filled set-ups. Fans will revel in this hilarious success but this is Titus -- the man -- at his most pissed and cruel so keep those Titus sitcom-watching kids at home. ~ David Jeffries