1. Albert BrooksComedy Minus One
This is a comedy record which I have probably memorised and which I put in a lot of time with when I was young. His comedy has always meant a lot to me and it’s just the way certain phrases from this record have stuck with me on a daily basis in life. He has this whole running thing on the record about what it’s like to be a comedian opening for rock bands, so there’s some sort of connection – although I loved it well before I was ever in a rock band – and in the years since I have definitely recognised some parallels with my life. I don’t really ever come back to it, I don’t really listen to it anymore but I don’t really have to. He’s got his thing where he rewrites the national anthem which is the big number on this record. A couple of years ago I saw an appearance of him on TV via YouTube rewriting the national anthem and he did it a little bit differently than how he does it on the record – it’s like an eight-minute piece – which I shared with my brother. He’s also made a bunch of films where he’s the writer, director and actor e.g. Real Life, Modern Romance and Lost in America. These are probably the three best ones but Defending Your Life is pretty great too. He’s doesn’t do much comedy these days and he hasn’t made his own movie in a long time, but he was in Drive last year.
