Perhaps you don’t recognize his name right away, but you most likely remember David Cross from one of his many cult-classic TV shows; Mr. Show, Arrested Development, or possibly even his reoccurring role as Donnie (the chicken pot pie guy) on the occasionally funny show Just Shoot Me. Aside from his television work, David Cross has been busy with many endeavors; voicing cartoon characters for animated movies, and even releasing his first book, “I drink for a reason”. Always busy, Cross has been unable to get on the road to do the job for which he is best-known, stand-up comedy. The release of the CD/DVD Bigger and Blackerer, on May 25th, marks David Cross’s 3rd release on Sub-Pop Records since 2002. This new record documents his first major comedy tour in over 5 years.

The album begins with a Broadway style song encompassing essentially all of the topics that Cross covers in his 1 hour set. As is the case with all of David Cross’s material, nothing is off limits. Race, religion, the green movement, politics, drug use, and did I mention religion? If not, let, me put it this way; I’m not even slightly religious but many times while listening to “Bigger and Blacker” I felt the urge to find shelter out of fear of lightning bolts striking.

As with his previous efforts, Cross’s pompous, patronizing attitude is both a pro and con in that he can come off as uncaring and quite honestly an asshole. Luckily for him his audience is largely comprised of people who expect, and love him for it. New listeners who pick up this CD may be appalled to hear bits involving topics such as his decision to get a Martin Luther King vanity license plate with the letters NGR-LVR embossed on it. David Cross jokes about a postcard that he read stating that “Nothing hurts like love…besides being a date rape victim”, raping the corpse of Anne Frank, and perhaps worst of all, a 2.5-minute rant about Coors Light drinkers!

David Cross, doesn’t just make fun of others though. He has no shame about sharing less proud moments of his own life, at times regaling the audience with stories of heavy drug usage, and shitting his own pants. He spends a good deal of time slamming religion, especially his own, Judaism. Cross makes no effort to avoid the topic of his Atheistic beliefs. Even still, he is an equal opportunity offender. Jokes span from the torture of growing up a Hasidic Jew, not being able to subscribe to Catholicism because he doesn’t believe in monsters (almost spit my coffee out on that one), and of course the ever-popular dissection of the seemingly contradictory principles of Scientology.

The biggest issue with this album is that while it is new and topical, at times it feels as like a continuation of his last two releases featuring regurgitated versions of jokes phrased slightly differently. If you are a David Cross fan, you will forgive this flaw, and laugh your ass off. If this is your first venture into David Cross’s world of politically incorrect (understatement) comedy, I would highly recommend picking up his 2002 Sub-Pop release Shut up, You Fucking Baby instead.

Track Listing:
01 Opening Song (The Sultan's Revenge)

02 If You Care

03 That One Show About Drugs and Stuff

04 Me and Drugs
05 Black Stuff

06 …Or Worse

07 Where We Are Now Back in Sept. '09

08 Silly Religious Crazies

09 REALLY Silly Religious Crazies. I Mean, Double, Triple Crazy!!

10 Random Goofabouts

11 I Can't Get Beer in Me…
12 Lesson Learned