Paul F. Tompkins: You Should Have Told Me

It's little question among comedy fans that Paul F. Tompkins is one of the superstars of the alternative comedy scene, one of the hardest working men in show business (all due respect, James Brown), and quite simply, constantly hilarious. This DVD marks a turn in his style, one that was a long time coming from his first two CDs, from dealing with the abstract and absurb to delving into his own personal life with honesty and levity. Recorded in the intimate venue of The Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta, GA, "You Should Have Told Me" is a story of adulthood in two acts, the first a booze-soaked trip though the excess of youth and out the other side, the second a heartfelt--and funny, of course--look at the nature of death and loss and family. Both are levened generously with the gift for absurity and metaphor offered in his earlier, conceptual work, but the fare they embellish is far more hearty.