Paul Hooper - Tense & Uncomfortable (CD)

It’s a little hard to tell if Paul Hooper meant himself or the audience when titled his latest “Tense & Uncomfortable,” but within moments, everyone’s settled right in. It just takes a beat after the rousing opener: “Here comes the negativity!” As if label-mates Jim David and Doug Stanhope made some unholy alliance and then got Jason Sudeikis to overdub the whole thing, Hooper’s got a confident, slightly manic, fully filthy, and absolutely likeable, unique stride on the mic. He could write books titled What to Expect When You’re Expecting an Enema and The New American Dream: Live a Life So Awesome Your Kids Can Never Come Close. And the wisdom doesn’t end there. Try this on for size: It’s not a good thing to find out your kids don’t have autism—those are just garden-variety dummies. Reading the Bible will make you understand why saying “heck” and watching “Reba” are tickets to hell and why selling fear and guilt are the fastest way to Scrooge McDuck riches. Reading the Koran and