Larry The Cable Guy - Christmastime In
Larryland
Review By: George
Peden, CSO Staff Journalist
Yo
ho ho. Tis the season to be jolly. Almost. With a CD aimed
squarely at the Xmas stocking stuffer crowd, Cable Guy Larry has
released his offering to the masses, Christmastime In Larryland.
The album is out on Warner Bros.
Now to be sure, Larry ain’t for
everyone. The blue collar redneck has a certain style, a certain
way, a certain turn of phrase that’ll win some and anger others.
But then as the wise say: comedy is a fine line between tragedy
and humor. Someone here at CSO was a little nearer the mark when
speaking of the album “… it’s kinda odd, funny and
disturbing all at the same time”. It’s a little like riding a
runaway elevator – you hang, you nervously laugh, all the while
hoping it’ll end, but it’s no real fun.
With his “Git-R-Done” attitude,
the Cable Guy revisits the dated but popular radio special as his
backdrop to circumstances, events, and situations all linked to
Xmas. Branded as classic Christmas cheer, the 20 tracks follow a
formula that has worked for this former DJ and video star of
Gretchen Wilson’s “All Jacked Up”. In that clip Larry played
himself and a transvestite, a not too hard stretch for a guy who
readily admits through his comedy that his “family” is at
best, odd.
Larry tries hard here. Maybe
that’s the problem. He’s a seasoned pro, a guy who’s crammed
his mantelpiece with awards and has also gathered some gold sales
for his earlier recorded work. But, it’ll be a big ask if this
follows the same path.
A farting rendition of Jingle Bells
(what else?), a choir, the Tobacco Company Choir whose humorous
injection to this is a vocal arrangement through voice boxes, the
shame and scandal of the “dysfunctional family”, and a stream
of other forgettable throwaways make up the seldom funny 53 plus
minutes.
Don’t get me wrong. Larry the
Cable Guy can be funny. Some of the time. But in these times of
world terrorist unease do we really need Larry’s comedic
character Mohammed sprouting, “What's fat, red, and flops
around? Your American Santa Claus getting beheaded for
Jihad!" I think not!
Larry will no doubt pull the
faithful to his yuletide festivities. But it’ll only be the
devoted and those who would laugh at a funeral. Maybe I’ve
missed the point, but I didn’t get this and even the scripted
laugh track failed to get me chortling. In a bemused way, I’ve
readily enjoyed some of Larry’s previous outings, but this
release didn’t push any buttons for me.
Shocking listeners with boys’
humor, the locker room kind, is a cheap laugh. Larry’s hopefully
capable of a better performance; sadly we didn’t get it here.
Maybe a backward glance in comedy history holds the answer; a
return to the content of older comedians, Jerry Lewis and Dean
Martin, Abbot and Costello, Jack Benny and, for modern times,
Seinfeld – a breed who claimed wide audiences, and wider and
longer laughs, with material that didn’t rattle and shake
majority sensibilities.
The album also features cameo
appearances from Trace Adkins, Cowboy Troy and TG Shepard, among
others. As an added bonus, the enhanced CD comes with a trailer of
Witless Protection, Larry’s new movie.
Christmastime In Larryland.
Yo ho ho. Tis the season to be jolly. Almost.
