Doug StanhopeWord of Mouth DVD (Sacred Cow)
“Nothing makes you feel better inside, male or female, than when someone who shouldn’t have fucked you did!” This pearl of wisdom from L.A.-based comedian Doug Stanhope, an honorary Austinite thanks to his work with Bill Hicks collaborator and Sacred Cow maven Kevin Booth, goes a long way toward explaining his world-view. To illustrate the point further, Stanhope indicts a young woman in the front row by saying, “Ten years ago, you could’ve turned this chip on my shoulder into a warm, salty paste, but you chose not to, didn’t you?” Even if he didn’t get the girl, though, this beer-guzzling, chain-smoking, porn-watching misanthrope will make fellow travelers double over with uncontrollable laughter amid pangs of disquieting recognition. Shot last year at Austin’s Velveeta Room, Word of Mouth captures an angry, honest man with twisted, razor-sharp wit, spewing hilariously forbidden vitriol most of us would only dare voice in the comfort of our own homes. Take 9/11, for example. He buttonholes the not-uncommon sentiment that, despite the very real horror of that day, it’s entirely possible to view 9/11 as a consequence of America’s smug, destructive arrogance on the world stage. “This fucking country is a big, bloated celebrity that thinks it doesn’t have to pay the fucking cover charge!” he rails. Stanhope also has words for Little George and his propensity to shoehorn his personal faith into 9/11 and the subsequent war on terrorism. Instead of calling for a National Day of Prayer, he advises the president to “Grab a shovel, head down to Ground Zero, and start digging, fuckface, because it looks like your God takes Tuesdays off!” Lest you get the impression Stanhope only trades in tirades against the powers that be, he holds his own peccadilloes under the same merciless microscope. Among other things, he memorably recounts getting jacked by a transvestite hooker as well as an intimate evening alone in a motel room with something he affectionately refers to as a “rubber fuck-my-face.” What would be shameful, closeted predilections for almost anybody else become comic gold in Stanhope’s hands. There’s a reason this DVD comes with a Wet-Nap.
This article appears in January 24 • 2003.
