(Shout Factory, 75 minutes)

www.shoutfactory.com/

 BY BILL HOLMES

Dana Gould returns with his first comedy release in over ten years, and if you're familiar with his first album (Funhouse) you'll be aptly prepared for his offbeat and alternative approach to stand-up. Maybe. Because even if you thought the Funhouse routine about Mike Tyson fighting "waves of retarded schoolgirls" was not quite off the charts, the closing set piece on this show ("Nightmare Alley") will still make you cringe. I have rarely seen a comic go so far out on a limb with a character, almost daring you to turn away, and then pull you back from the brink with the simple addition of a couple of hand gestures - a veritable wink to let you know he was really in control the whole time.  Of course, having watched him seamlessly stitch together wildly disparate themes with flawless callbacks, I should have know that all along, but Gould's strength is making his prepared work look extemporaneous.

That's not to say alternative comics don't have great one-liners. Gould - a writer for The Simpsons for seven years - is razor sharp, especially when discussing his own frailties, his marriage and his dysfunctional family. Recalling his father's two emotions as "rage and suppressed rage", he decides to adopt because genetically his balls "are full of poison". He's been married so long that his best pick up lines are notes from the job jar. He scores when riffing on Larry King (priceless) and Nancy Grace ("She looks like something that jumped out of your headlights") or pondering the wonders of the astronaut diaper.  Gould also dispenses three classic advice tips as "words to live by", including why you might need to eat a particular dessert like it's an ear of corn. (Trust him on that one.)

The show was recorded at Chicago's Second City Theatre in 2008. Director Bob Odenkirk opens and closes the set with Gould in his dressing room a la Raging Bull. Like that title character, Gould is a physical performer who channels anger and frustration as a vehicle for art. Those expecting shtick and toilet humor should look elsewhere for laughs, but those willing to sign to this adventure will be rewarded.

Special Features:  Deleted scenes, interview, "Soul Mates" film short.