This isn't the album to buy if you're curious or "sort of" into
Andy Dick. You have to be a major fan to sit through all of
Do Your Shows Always Suck?, and while it is hilarious in parts, it is woefully sloppy. Being a scatterbrained, raging bisexual who always has one foot in rehab is
Dick's shtick, so it would be silly to expect something tidy, but there are and have been plenty of other reckless comedians who packaged their chaos with the audience in mind. They feel spontaneous; this feels unrehearsed as it rambles off in every direction with long stretches between punch lines. The shocking songs with acoustic guitars are the highlights and they appear with greater frequency on the album's superior second half. Sight jokes aren't edited out and
Dick isn't that good of an improviser, either, with any interruption from the audience throwing him off, forcing him to use sick-o potty humor to worm his way out of it. Being there is probably a totally different story since
Dick's mannerisms and "look" are important to the whole package.
Do Your Shows Always Suck? seems completely unaware of this and even the biggest
Andy Dick fan would have to admit he could be packaged much better than this. ~ David Jeffries