JOHNNY TAYLOR'S FULL LENGTH DEBUT ALBUM
"TANGLED UP IN PLAID" IS AVAILABLE NOW!!!
"JOHNNY TAYLOR'S TANGLED UP IN PLAID IS HILARIOUS" - Robert Berry, Retrocrush.com
Johnny Taylor isn't like many comics you've seen or heard. He commands the attention that Sasquatch might if he lumbered to the stage and grabbed the mic. An imposing hulk of a guy with a wild beard and a rough stare that looks like he's simply had enough. You could imagine he's hitchhiked to Hell. And after a couple of hours of sitting in the back of the club, pounding down some cheap beer, he's had enough of shitty comics and wants to show them how it's done.
After just two years on the scene, Stand Up! Records signed him for a multi-record deal, the first of which which debuts today is the way too good, "Tangled Up In Plaid". Recorded in his home town of Sacramento at The Punch Line, Plaid is a great listen that's full of hilarious jokes and stories that won't disappoint.
Part of Taylor's charm is that he can come out you with tough guy material, then reveal a frail side that takes you off guard. And when he lulls you into a calm with his charm, and you think the material is going to veer in one direction, the joke suddenly stops with a sucker-punch to the gut you weren't expecting.
The one hour album has humor that ranges from hecklers, the hell of the workplace, the horror of discovering a parent's dildo collection, and the difficulties he faces his lazy eye.
The comedy club audience really digs the performance, and you can often hear gasps of bemused shock from the audience with outbursts like "WOW!" and "GROSS!" periodically through the set. But it's a fantastic "WOW!" and "GROSS!" that makes it a great listen.
One brilliantly maniacal story starts with watching Magic Mike and descends into a B-Movie climax that involves sucking a guy's dick to save the life of a baby that about to be obliterated by a band saw at the end of a conveyor belt.
Another track talks about his real struggles with death anxiety, and going to bed each night worried that his parents would die. It's another punch to the face that you don't expect, then smile in awe in the aftermath.
Johnny Taylor's come a long way in a short amount of time and has already worked with some really big names.
It's only a matter of time when he's going to be one of those big names that other folks will be hoping to work with.
Check out "Tangled Up In Plaid" at Amazon, iTunes, or from standuprecords.com.
You can follow Johnny on Twitter at @hipsterocracy.
Robert Berry
rberry@retrocrush.com
"JOHNNY'S FIRST ALBUM CAPTURES WHAT IT IS THAT I LOVE ABOUT HIS STAND UP." - Keith Lowell Jensen, Rockass.net
I have a huge bias here, as Johnny Taylor is one of my best friends, but we sought each other out to work together and then became friends because we liked each other's comedy, and Johnny's first album captures what it is that I love about his stand up.
His slow, steady delivery, amazing story telling, and dark sensibilities are all present. It's confidence to the point of arrogance the way he refuses to "sell" the jokes. He puts 'em out there patiently, and lets the writing get whatever laugh it's gonna get. The laughs come through.
The one point where a particularly dark joke doesn't get a laugh from the crowd gets one from the comic as he relishes in the shocked silence. If you're not familiar with Johnny Taylor's comedy, please don't think I'm describing a "shock" comic, not at all. Johnny's shocks come from an honest and sincere place where he doesn't steer clear of them rather than mining them for cheap thrills. He is the real deal.
What's cool about Taylor is that he brings the punk rock/get in the bus energy to his comedy. He uses that to hide the fact that he's got a sharp wit that really cuts to the bone while it cuts to the chase. Taking the regular switch back formula to alt.comedy extremes, you'll have to listen to this more than one time to get the stuff you didn't hear while you were laughing the first time around. More than ready to go blasting out of his NoCal stomping grounds, this guy is a laugh riot waiting to explode in a head phone near you soon. A laugh riot throughout.
"TAYLOR IS AN ABSOLUTE MASTER OF MISDIRECTION." - The Serious Comedy Site
I have been a rabid fan of stand-up comedy for several decades and, because I both watch and listen to such a tremendous volume of stand-up comedy, I often find myself thinking that I must be familiar with every single working stand-up comic. Of course, that’s a ridiculous thought, as it would be technically impossible to be familiar with every person working in any industry. Despite realizing the absurdity of that thought, it is a recurring one.
“MORE THAN READY TO GO BLASTING OUT OF HIS NOCAL STOMPING GROUND, THIS GUY IS A LAUGH RIOT WAITING TO EXPLODE IN A HEAD PHONE NEAR YOU SOON.”. - Midwest Record
Time for some honesty and self-deprecation. I fell victim to that thought when I heard about a new stand-up album by comic Johnny Taylor called “Tangled Up In Plaid.” Johnny Taylor? Never heard of him. And if I haven’t heard of him, he must not be very good. A conclusion that is equal parts naive and ludicrous. But, I thought to myself, it’s on theStand Up! Records label, and that label routinely features top quality recordings from top quality comics, so I’ll give it a shot. Aren’t I generous?
Track one, titled “Affliction.” Taylor starts talking about not liking people who wear Affliction t-shirts. Swap out the word “Affliction” with “Ed Hardy” and I think to myself, oh geez, here we go again with this tired bit. Boy was I wrong. Taylor immediately took it in a new direction, and had some jokes about the shirts (or, more appropriately, the people who wear those shirts) that had me doubled over laughing.
My thought process changed immediately. This guy is pretty darn good; let’s strap in and go along for the ride. Next track -- titled “Ugly” -- Taylor talks about having a lazy eye. Hilarious. Next track, funny. Next track, funny. Next track, funnier than the last. I am laughing a lot, and laughing HARD, at material from a comic who, just moments earlier, I had sort of written off for no valid reason.
Taylor is an absolute master of misdirection. The setups are well done, and many of the punchlines go in directions you will never see coming. For example, in one of my favorite jokes from the set, Taylor talks about how he had a lot of anxiety as a kid. He would often lay awake at night, sweating, wondering what would happen if his parents died. Now, he says, his parents are dead so .... “needless to say, that’s a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I can finally catch some fucking Z’s.” The audience erupts with laughter, as did I.
The entire set clocks in at just a hair under an hour, and concludes with a nearly 11 minute bit about getting a colonic. A great, hilarious story.
I definitely know Taylor’s name now. I look forward to more from this comic, and will be keeping my eye out to see if he ever performs live near me. Lesson learned.
Brett Watson