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Album Review: Greg Proops - Kidding. But Still.
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Kidding. But Still. feels like you're hanging out at a fun New Year's Eve party and Greg Proops just happens to be holding court. Greg is someone I've been watching since I started comedy. A lot of people know him from Whose Line is it Anyway?, but I've always been more impressed by his improvisation as a stand up. I've seen him live a couple times, and he is lightning fast and quick on his feet.
That skill of his is great because this is a crowd work album. I don't mean crowd work in the way that it's portrayed now in TikTok videos or Reels. I mean this more in a traditional 50s- and 60s-era comedy album. I don't intend to either date Greg Proops or to blow smoke up his ass, but he is performing in a style that I miss and I think newer generations should study more. He is doing crowd work the way Lenny Bruce or Joan Rivers did crowd work. He is reacting to the audience just as much as he is performing.
Proops is not going individually down a line and interviewing audience members. He is doing his jokes and telling his stories, but he is deliberately leaving room to improvise within them. He is reacting to and commenting on how the audience responds in every moment. Like any good improviser, his magic is in listening. They are having a dialogue back and forth. He is riding them like a wave.
Despite how good he is at this, my favourite part is whenever the audience pushes back. The skill Greg Proops has that I most envy, my favorite thing, is listening to him win them back by brow beating them until they love him again. It's incredibly hard to do and so deeply funny.
There are some who believe that all comedy should be evergreen and in that way, it is dangerous to talk about any kind of current events. But everything Greg does is kind of political. You can't improvise and not comment on what's happening in the moment. In this way, the album is kind of like a time capsule, which I love and think is important. What is a New Year's Eve party without reflecting on the year we just had? There is great value in being able to look back and know what people were feeling at the time. Not in a way that is influenced by media, either, because you are not just getting Greg's singular opinion, you are also hearing the audience reaction. The audience is just as important to what you are listening to as Greg. It's actually a duo act.
Is it a perfect album in the traditional sense? No, but it's not supposed to be. It is an authentic moment captured in time, and you know he did his job because you can hear everyone having a blast.
Proops is one of the only comedians today doing entirely improvised albums, and if you are a fan of comedy and if you have any designs of becoming a comedian, it is well worth your time to listen to and study the craft of what he's doing... Or you can just listen to a fun party and enjoy a snapshot of a very interesting time to be alive.
You can listen to Kidding. But Still. wherever you buy or stream albums.
Tags: Kidding. But Still., stand-up, improv, crowd work, Greg Proops, improvised album
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