Stand-Up Comic: 1964-1968

Stand-Up Comic: 1964-1968

Compiled from Woody Allen's legendary standup routines of the mid 1960s, <i>Standup Comic</i> is an absolute necessity for any acolyte of the man's solid work from his <i>Casino Royale</i> and <i>New Yorker</i> phase. <p> <i>"Here's a good example of oral contraception. I asked a girl to go to bed with me, and she said 'No.'"</i> <p> Between a youthful stint as a TV gag man and his groundbreaking films of the 1970s, Allen tried his hand at standup. He was, predictably, a success. Taken from nightclub dates in 1964, '65, and '68, <i>Standup Comic</i> shows how stylistically similar he was to contemporaries like Bill Cosby but also how his absurd flights of imagination made him utterly unique. <p> <i>"I took a puff of the wrong cigarette at a fraternity dance once. The cops had to come and get me. I broke two teeth trying to give a hickey to the Statue of Liberty."</i> <p> Now that he's a junior-varsity Ingmar Bergman, it's easy to forget that Allen's first public face was that of a world-class <i>zhlub</i>--a rumpled redhead who shared stories of analysis, sexual frustration, and failure. The long-form tales featured on <i>Standup Comic</i> (including Allen's famous bit featuring a moose) provide plenty of laughs as well as an early glimpse at this protean comic genius. <i>--Mike Gerber</i>