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We Farted is a split album by Toronto comic Dylan Gott and Toronto/London (England) comic John Hastings. That does not mean they split an album in two and took a part each, but rather the tracks alternate between them for the length of it.
I’m not sure if this format of split album has been done before, but I personally would rather a solid “side” each. Mixing two comedic voices this way is still an interesting and worthwhile experiment however. They’re not so starkly different that it’s at all dissonant. It also has the advantage that you won’t get bored listening to the same voice and narrative for a whole set. This is fine live, but even recordings of Louis CK have me thinking about what I want for dinner at around the 35-minute mark.
Gott’s style is overtly self-deprecating and mostly about being a balding gamer who lives in a basement apartment and survives on fast-food. His delivery is flippant but upbeat, conveying something like comfort and even reveling in the piece of garbage he accepts himself as. Upon repeated listens I noticed a bunch of great lines I previously missed, which is kind of the hallmark of a rich writer.
Hastings’ delivery contrasts with this in that he comes across like a campy, overly eloquent stage actor. However this is nicely moderated by a combination of shameful scenarios he has found himself in and absurd ideas such as wanting to own a falcon. His storytelling is commanding, dynamic, and his bits always resolve full circle as if Larry David wrote them. His observations are simply interesting, such as his concept of “opinion-face,” the face someone makes when they absolutely need in that moment to share an opinion. I am happy I now have a term for this very particular bit of body language.
This is a pretty strong debut album. I will leave the last words of promotion to Gott with an excerpt from here:
Let’s face it: I’m a fragile, incompetent man. So much so, that I’ve dedicated my whole life to pointing out how incompetent I am. I truly have no other options. However, I can only laugh at these shortcomings for so long before I start to honestly consider them. This never goes well. But, if enough people buy this album I can feel like I made the right call by not learning a trade.
Buy We Farted.
