They're All Gonna Laugh At You!

Adam Sandler

Warner Brothers Records, 1993

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Sandler

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/03/1999

Adam Sandler is like most typical pre-teen males who have discovered the sheer joy and terror of using swear words. They know that what they're saying is liable to get them in trouble, but not only do they like seeing the expressions on people's faces when they say the things they do, but they like the laughter from their friends, who now think they're cool.

That pretty much sums up Sandler's first comedy album, They're All Gonna Laugh At You!, an album which is less of a Sandler vehicle and more of a post- Saturday Night Live gathering for many players, including Rob Schneider, David Spade and Tim Meadows. It also shows the inevitability of using vulgarity just for the sake of shock: it gets real old, real quick.

Now, I'm not against swear words; I do believe there is a time and a place for their usage. And it doesn't bother me to hear a comedy album using the word "fuck" or describing sex in a graphic manner. But in Sandler's case, there's only so much I can stand before I have to wonder if this is the only hand he knows how to play. Think of how you became immune to the nudity and eventual sex scene in my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 Showgirls... 'nuff said.

Case in point - or, rather, pointless - are the sketches featuring "The Buffoon," a character who responds with scatalogical and obscene non sequiturs in place of holding up a real conversation. Don't let the track listing fool you; "The Buffoon" makes more than two appearances on this album. But we'll get back to that later.

It's not all that bad on They're All Gonna Laugh At You! Even some of the toilet humor - literally, in the case of the sketch "The Longest Pee" - is funny. And while they are a little mindless, the series of short sketches like "The Beating Of A High School Janitor" are as guilty of a pleasure as watching Cops.

Unfortunately, Sandler isn't always at the top of his game on this album; sketches like "Buddy," "Fatty McGee" and "The Cheerleader" almost leave you wondering how this guy ever rose to the top of the comedy world. Other sketches, like "I'm So Wasted," are funny - that is, until they end with the reintroduction of... "The Buffoon". Nooooooo!!! (This doofus also makes a cameo appearance on "Teenage Love On The Phone," another decent sketch ruined by his presence.)

Sandler's musical ambitions are present on They're All Gonna Laugh At You!, though he has yet to impress me like he did on "Ode To My Car" on What The Hell Happened To Me?. "Lunchlady Land" comes the closest to being a great song, while "Food Innuendo Guy" and "The Thanksgiving Song" are just okay. And, if you're easily offended, you'll want to skip "At A Medium Pace" and "My Little Chicken". (Hell, if you're easily offended, you wouldn't own this album in the first place.)

Sandler is much more talented than the material on They're All Gonna Laugh At You! suggests, but until Sandler branches out past the sophomoric humor, only the 10-year-old boys who are just learning how to swear are going to consider this one a must-own album.

Rating: C-

User Rating: B


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© 1999 Christopher Thelen and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Warner Brothers Records, and is used for informational purposes only.