The Fartist

Brian Posehn's The Fartist is not a French silent comedy album honoring the 2011 Oscar winner The Artist. Instead, it's the moment where the nerdy, fart-filled, and hilarious comedian admits he's growing up and is no longer a stoner (which receives a ton of loud boos from the Seattle audience) because that's just not what new fathers with families do. They don't normally say things like "I masturbated while my baby cried, but that's not what got me started" or "My wiener is crying, and not in the way he's supposed to" either, so even as the comedian frets over becoming a mundane, too precious, standup Dad ("… explaining my baby as 'He fell from heaven, and he's made of angel wings, and muffins…'") there are just too many boobies and Boba Fetts here to think he's anywhere near a full clampdown. Speaking of the latter, there's a great, George Lucas-hating bit that ends the set, while the former is represented by his wife's anger while smelling fake breasts on Posehn after his return from Vegas ("They do have a smell, they smell like a new balloon. It reminds you of childhood"), plus his usual strip club V.I.P. room spiel ("How much will it cost to get you to stop crying"), Still, there are deeper topics, like falling into depression during your twenties ("You hate yourself, you're listening to Morrissey, you're wondering why your friends aren't calling, and you're measuring your penis..."), or the perils of chronic gastro-intestinal distress ("I'm just full of sausage McMuffins and frowns"), then there's the brilliant notion that he'll screw up his kid's cultural knowledge by playing him "Weird Al" first ("kid's at a party and his first encounter with Michael Jackson's music elicits "'Beat It'?!? This sounds just like 'Eat It'!!!"). Shame there's no music on this one, as the man's previous efforts featured Posehn bringing the Heavy Metal thunder, but The Fartist brings the Farty Nerd thunder, and on that level, it absolutely shreds.