Woody Allen: Volume 2

 Woody Allen: Volume 2

1965

Colpix Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. The Moose  2. The Kidnapping  3.Superman  4.Science Fiction Movie  5. Eggs Benedict  6. Footnote  7. What's New Pussycat? 8. Reminiscences  9.Swedish Movie 10. Taking A Shower (Pantomime) 11. Lost Generation 




I florkin' love Woody Allen...

 Well, I'm kind of like those  "Stardust Memories" aliens...I like his earlier, funnier movies..."Sleeper" being one of my all-time favorite films...

I can't help it, the shit's so funny...I can recall watching him for the first time somewhere in the second-half of the 80's...I think I touched on the summer my dad brought home a ginormous collection of Capacitance Electronic Discs home one day, shortly after the format had died out...I didn't care about obsolescence, though...All I cared about was the fact there were hundreds of new movies piled high in the living room and I was determined to blow the entire vacation watching 'em all...

And one of the most intriguing ones as a kid was this one...



 "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (but were afraid to ask)" by Woody Allen...I'm sure there was no way my parents intended for me to watch this, but sure enough, I waited for them to leave one day and popped this in...

And boy, was my mind blown when I got an eyeful of Gene Wilder getting it on with a sheep...

...and the the scene where Woody squares off against a giant boob...

...and to this day, I'm still extremely fascinated by the "Sperm Scene" where you get an inside look at all the hard work that goes into a getting a hard-on...

It was absolutely a pivotal moment in my life, where I suddenly realized the endless possibilities inherent in humor and film, especially when you were willing to push things a bit...

"Woody Allen Volume 2" captures Woody in the 60's when he was still a stand-up comedian...His routine is instantly recognizable to anyone who's seen his early, funny movies (and probably familiar even if you haven't).  His distinct nervous/nebbish persona was already in place and his monologues have a very filmic quality...More closely related to mini-movies for the mind than standard jokes, except for "Footnotes," which is just a one-liner, but it's brilliant: 

“I want to tell you a terrific story about oral contraception, I asked this girl to sleep with me and she said 'No.'" 

 But that's  the exception...The album is mostly long-form stories, full of unexpected plot-twists and sharp details...Hell, "Science Fiction" is just a brief plot synopsis for an unmade alien invasion flick that I wish someone would have made...And fans of his movies will probably find the "What's New Pussycat?" track interesting, since he outlines his time making the film:

"Europe for me, as a matter of fact, was a series of near misses. I was at a cast party with our cast, and I was in the corner and I was playing the vibes, very sexy like a jazz musician...Up and down. And a great girl comes up behind me, really elaborate, and she says to me "You play vibes?" I say "Yeah, it helps me sublimate me sexual tensions." She says "Why don't you let me help you sublimate your sexual tensions." So I figured "Great", y'know, "here's a girl who plays vibes." I turned quickly and asked her out for a date, but Peter O'Toole, who's in the movie, asked her out first.  Aces me out, y'know - and she was a beautiful girl, so I said to her "Could you bring a sister for me?", and she did! Sister Maria Teresa. It was a very slow night, y'know. We discussed the New Testament, y'know. We agreed that He was extremely well adjusted, for an only child..."

Alright, I'm falling into the trap I've been trying to avoid the whole time I've been doing these comedy album posts...I'm just retelling the jokes, so I should probably pull the plug soon...You should hear these for yourself rather than reading them second-hand on a computer screen. The stories really did suck me in the whole time...The whole thing is fascinating, funny and fast-paced...That said, this album features one of the most useless moments ever etched into vinyl..."Taking A Shower (Pantomime)" is literally a silent pantomime! That you can't see! So it's just silence interspersed with periodic laughter from the audience. WTF?! Oh well, at least it's short...

Still, I highly recommend this if you run across it in the dollar bin, I know I'll keep my eyes peeled for "Volume One."  I honestly believe that Woody Allen would have become a comedy legend even if he had never picked up a movie camera...Here's "The Kidnapping" by Woody Allen...Enjoy...