Grading the Top 10 in … COMEDY ALBUMS!

1. Pete Holmes, “This Party Is McDonald’s” (Nice Try, the Devil)

Pete Holmes has a podcast called You Made It Weird and an upcoming TBS talk show called The Midnight Show with Pete Holmes. That might help bump his credit as “the voice of the E-Trade baby” further down his Wikipedia page. See how long you can go without repeating this McDonald’s joke (not very long, probably).

Grade: A

Best YouTube Comment: “He really did trick me with the joke, I had no idea what he meant by the phrase, nor was I expecting a follow-up. Really funny shit.” —LeftyHangsLower

 

2. Jim Gaffigan, “McDonald’s” (Mr. Universe)

Comedians love McDonald’s! (Comedians are on tour a lot and often pass through places where the only available restaurants are fast-food places like McDonald’s.)

Grade: B-

Best YouTube Comment: “Jim Gaffigan are like bonus fries … ” —cjs969696

 

3. Aziz Ansari, “Texting With Girls” (Dangerously Delicious)

I was hoping Aziz would have a bit about McDonald’s, but no such luck. He did, however, name his special Dangerously Delicious, and this bit is kind of about food. I FINISHED THAT PIZZA HOURS AGO.

Grade: B+

Best YouTube Comment: “Brian sounds nice” —HadleyTrounson

 

4. Tig Notaro, “Tig Notaro Wants Her Headshot Everywhere” (LIVE)

This is a Conan remote segment where Tig goes around Toluca Lake trying to get her head shot on the wall of local restaurants. You should purchase Tig’s amazing album LIVE, recorded the day after she was diagnosed with cancer. The expanded version, with a picture disc, drops on July 16. You can preorder it here.

Grade: A

Best YouTube Comment: “She looks like a female Tom Cruise” —DanielRincon

 

5. Stephen Lynch, “Lion” (Lion)

Nope.

Grade: F

Best YouTube Comment: “true story. but its told in such a funny way. haha, good song.” —josegfe

 

6. Thomas Miles a.k.a. Nephew Tommy, “The Cake Lady” (Presents: Prank Phone Calls: Church Folks Gotta Laugh Too Vol. 2)

Houston-based comedian Thomas “Nephew Tommy” Miles is the co-host of Steve Harvey’s morning radio show, famous for his prank calls. He has a guest role in the film version of Harvey’s Think Like a Man. Prank calls are so corny, but there are always new 10-year-olds coming into existence who still think they are the funniest thing ever. Who is the king of prank texting, though? What are the Jerky Boys up to these days?

Grade: B

Best YouTube Comment: “She went off!!!! LMAO” —shaezoe01

 

7. John Mulaney, “SVU” (New in Town)

C’MON, NETFLIX, PICK UP MULANEY, YOU KNOW IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

Grade: A

Best YouTube Comment: “Or like when someone … ” —smlmeyer

 

8. Kevin Hart, “Alright Alright Alright” (Laugh at My Pain)

Kevin Hart’s dad sounds like a pretty cool dude. Alright alright alriiiiiiiiiight.

Grade: A

Best YouTube Comment: “Had me saying this in front of of my 7th grade teachers loll” —sk8terboy5260

 

9. Lewis Black, “I Am Old” (In God We Rust)

Me too, Lewis Black. Me too.

Grade: B+

Best YouTube Comment: “hes the man” —smufiennesblue

 

10. Tenacious D, “Rize of the Fenix” (Rize of the Fenix)

I was obsessed with Tenacious D’s short-lived late-’90s HBO show Tenacious D: The Greatest Band on Earth. Since then Jack Black has become an unbelievably famous comedian, which I’ll admit was not something I predicted at the time. Kyle Gass is still Kyle Gass. The problem with a lot of comedy songs is that they don’t work as either comedy or songs, but Tenacious D songs are pretty fucking great if you like bombastic acoustic folk-rock with strong fantasy metal influences. Why hasn’t Jack Black done a full-on musical yet? He has serious pipes. Maybe a big-screen version of Jeepers Creepers Semi-Star is in order.

Grade: A

Best Youtube Comment: “They aren’t comedians. They’re gods.” —BehrossFaroughi

Filed Under: Comedy, Grading the Charts, Jack Black, Kevin Hart

Molly Lambert is a staff writer for Grantland.

Archive @ mollylambert