Christopher Titus: Voice in My Head

[StevePulaski]

Christopher Titus: Voice in My Head (2013)
Directed by: Christopher Titus

Christopher Titus in Christopher Titus: Voice in My Head.

Rating: ★★★½

With just two comedy specials, Christopher Titus has become my favorite living stand up comedian. His inanely relatable mix of self-deprecating humor combined with his exceptional impressions of celebrities, regional dialect, and mannerisms and his ability to find the humor, smug and straightforward, in every day situations, leaves me about as breathless as a lot of his physical comedy does him. Titus is more than a stand up comedian - he is an entertainer and a performer. His comedy specials are like fully-fleshed out one-man-shows that pack the comedic wallop of a comedy special, and he never fails to find ways to be either philosophical or observant in life.

Christopher Titus: Voice in My Head is no different for him; once again, it's an hour-long Comedy Central special of his strongest bits from his ninety-minute comedy special, available for purchase on his website. Unlike Love is Evol, his previous comedy special, which ranks among George Carlin: Back in Town and Richard Pryor: Live at Sunset Strip for funniest comedy specials I have ever seen, where the main topic of discussion was Titus's ugly divorce, this particular special concerns Titus's relationships with celebrities like The Edge of U2 fame, Bruce Springsteen, and Jackson Browne. He tells stories of times he met these huge entertainers and completely botched the conversation by saying something impulsive and stupid, taking self-deprecation to a whole new level of observant and original. Titus also saves time to discuss the relationship he had with his father, a topic that always finds itself occupying a few minutes of each of his specials, who was a reckless and occasionally abusive man. Titus makes humor out of these ugly situations, making you see into his world without the kind of pitiful resonance one could easily sell with this kind story. That's the beauty and the anomaly of Titus's self-deprecating material. He says from the beginning that this arena is like a church for losers and he is the man to lead them to redemption.

Titus's most powerful monologue comes when he discusses the impact and the controversy surrounding the word "retard," which he justifies following his personification of our self-conscious by personifying the term as "our inner-retard." Our "inner-retard" is the voice in our head that reminds us what a failure, a screw-up, or a misguided soul we are whenever we gain the slightest amount of ambition and drive or are trying to achieve greatness. Titus attacks the controversy surrounding "retard" by detailing an uproariously funny story about him and his mentally-handicapped comedian friend, who proceeded to make a scene at a diner one night following assumed accusations that he couldn't handle himself in public by a waitress. The entire monologue is hilarious, and the "inner-retard" character pops up frequently in the special, adding the playful element of Titus's self-conscious to the mix, making us see him as a vulnerable figure.

Voice in My Head is wild and unpredictable, much like Titus himself, who's physical performance here should not go unnoticed and be considered as much as the humor in the situations he discusses. Titus is a force in this comedy special, and his nonstop rigor and artistic competence shines through this work, making this an accomplished stand up comedy special and Titus one of the most unstoppable forces in the field at this time.

Directed by: Christopher Titus.