iTunes Essentials – Big Comedy For Less Money

September 17, 2009 | Posted by Randydeluxe

If there is any large category of iTunes offerings that are the most underrepresented by the iTunes Essentials system, it’s comedy.  Currently, I can easily locate exactly two iTunes essentials general comedy lists among the thousands of pro lists.  Contrast that with the mountain of comedy available on iTunes, and there is a gap to fill.

But rather than just point you at the best comedy tracks you can buy, I’d like to save you some money.  I’ve been a connoisseur of stand-up comedy for 25 years now, and have collected and listened-to hundreds of comedy albums.  There’s a difficult issue with buying comedy in iTunes: Most albums are divided up into 15 tracks or more.  At the usual price of $0.99 per track in iTunes, buying a couple of hours of comedy could be prohibitively expensive.  In some per-track collections, you’d run up a tab of over $50/hour to listen to your favorite comedians tell jokes.

But there is an obvious alternative, and that is to buy comedy in iTunes by the whole album.  To take the number one Essentials example below, purchasing all of Feelin’ Kinda Patton by the track would cost you a total of $27.72.  If you only really wanted to own half of the tracks on that album, it would run you $13.86.  But here’s the deal: You can buy the whole album right now for $7.99.

If you love comedy, purchasing whole albums in iTunes is the way to go.  But there are not yet any whole-album-save-you-money iTunes Essentials lists in the store.  I can’t even see a way to create a user-list that points at whole albums, rather than single tracks.

So let’s get on with the best comedy albums in iTunes, for the money:

The Basics

1. Feelin’ Kinda Patton by Patton Oswalt – At $7.99 for 28 tracks (runtime of 1.1 hour), Oswalt’s original brain freeze can’t be beat.
2. Retaliation by Dane Cook – Some people hate Dane for reasons I don’t grasp, but 29 tracks that deliver an incredible 1.7 hour runtime album – that went double platinum, by the way – for $13.99 is pretty good.
3. Monty Python Sings by Eric Idle and Monty Python – Six of their best songs are under a minute each, and all 25 tracks here are classic for $10.99.
4. Himself by Bill Cosby – Yes it’s only 7 tracks, only 46 minutes, but this is one of the greatest comedy albums ever, for only $6.63.
5. Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris – Who said comedy comes in stand-up clubs only?  Sedaris’ funniest book runs 4.3 hours long, for $16.95.
6. It’s Not Funny by David Cross – In my opinion, his best album.  For $7.99.
7. Strategic Grill Locations by Mitch Hedburg – The first stream of near-consciousness album from the late genius.  His next album is perhaps funnier, but any comedy lover wants more than 10 of these 21 tracks, so $9.99 is a good deal.

Next Steps

1. Shiny Happy Jihad by Joe Rogan – 1.1 hours of “I’m dying laughing” stuff from the man for $9.99.
2. Cheese And Crackers by Chris Rock – It’s a 19-track greatest hits package from one of the most successful standups of all time, for $9.99.
3. Incredibad by The Lonely Island – Saturday Night Live’s Digital Shorts-maker Andy Samburg’s greatest hits (so far) runs only 42 minutes, but is 19 tracks for only $7.99
4. A Night At The Met by Robin Williams – The only Williams comedy in the iTunes store, recorded at the peak of his work, is 16 tracks and 53 minutes for $9.99.
5. The Carnegie Hall Performance by Lewis Black – $9.99 gets you 1.4 hours of rants from the angriest sane man around.
6. Circle by Eddie Izzard – Because some tracks are up-priced, all 21 cost a total of $21.69 individually.  Get the whole album for $9.99.

Deep Cuts

1. Live At The DC Improv 4-5-08 by Eddie Gossling – A full set of the wildly underrated Gossling only puts you back $5.99.
2. It’s Bad For Ya by George Carlin – His last album, released posthumously, is $9.99 for 28 tracks that would cost you $27.72 individually.
3. You Can Win! by Maria Bamford – 21 tracks for $9.99. Every single one of them funny.
4. Greatest Comedy Hits by Eddie Murphy – If you’d buy 10 or more tracks of his individually, just get his 16 best  (plus a couple of others) for $9.99.
5. Comedy Central Presents: Stand Up – Each of these 21-minute tracks costs $1.99.  It’s cableTV-clean stuff you can pick and choose from.
6. 222 Live & Uncut by Patton Oswalt – Not an album, but two hour-long tracks for $0.99 each.  For sheer value, the best in iTunes.

Note: Comedy albums by the following artists are not available for purchase in iTunes: Richard Pryor, Richard Jeni, Roseanne Barr, Jim Norton or Vaughn Meader’s First Family (the highest selling comedy album of all time).

P.S. I love Katt Williams, but this is the worst value in all of comedy.  Cut that thing down by 80% at least!

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