“LOVE IS EVOL” Christopher Titus (Comedy Central) *****
“If you’ve never contemplated suicide, you have never truly been in love. If you’ve never contemplated murder, you’ve never been divorced.” That’s how Titus’s brilliant new album starts. Bitter? Painful? Certainly. Funny? Holy crap!

Comedy is the blues for people that can’t sing. As Titus talks about the two years prior to the divorce- the wife getting new boobs, lips, hair- you can hear the pain. He then guides us back into his family history, and we can begin to understand him. His father was divorced six times and his mother, who he says should be “a Batman villain”, killed her last husband. This is his genius- he excavates the pain and horror and finds the laughter.

In his last few albums my comedy hero, George Carlin, was just bitter. Here, the crowd occasionally lapses into shocked silence, but they stay with Titus and when the laughter comes, you can feel the crowd’s collective “Whew!” The sun comes out as he moves on to his current relationship, and the relief is palpable.

Whether it’s the divorce, his certifiable parents, or the other crazy relationships (not wacky, but truly insane), Christopher Titus takes his rage and pain and holds up a mirror to reflect our lives. Most of us have not been down to the same depths of hell, but we know the neighborhood. The truth hurts- and with Titus, it’s funny.

KEY CUTS: “Mom and Dad”, “Crazy Makes You Crazy”, “Her Dad”