Stand Up! Records
Founded2000; 24 years ago (2000)
FounderDan Schlissel
GenreComedy
Country of originU.S.
LocationMinneapolis, Minnesota
Official websitestanduprecords.com

Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label."[1] Stand Up! has released more than 200 comedy albums and videos since its founding in 2000, including albums by Lewis Black, Patton Oswalt, Greg Proops, David Cross, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Buress, Judy Gold, the Sklar Brothers, and Eddie Pepitone.[2][3] Comedian and actor Marc Maron, who released his first three albums on Stand Up!, described Schlissel as "a guy who loves comedy, and is very attentive to the process of recording comedy," and, referencing the large number of noteworthy comics who were given important exposure in their early careers by the label, joked that "you've done everybody's first two records."[4]

A relatively small operation, the label is run almost entirely by Schlissel, who also served as recording engineer and producer on many of the label's albums.[5] The label has been praised for bringing an independent approach to the comedy genre, inspired by Schlissel's roots in punk and indie rock. Henry Owings, founder of humor magazine Chunklet, stated that Schlissel "has done a great job trying to reintroduce some fresh blood into comedy albums. ... If anybody's trying to bring back the idea of comedy albums being something that should be looked at in the same light as a music album, it's him."[6]

History

In the 1990s, Schlissel founded the Lincoln, Nebraska-based -ismist Recordings, which released works by Midwestern punk, metal and alt-rock bands such as Killdozer and House of Large Sizes, including Iowa metal band Slipknot's 1997 debut/demo, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. After Slipknot left -ismist for Roadrunner Records, Schlissel became disillusioned with running a music label, and moved away from Nebraska in 1998 to take a job at a software company in Minneapolis.[7] He considered folding -ismist, but instead found new focus after convincing Lewis Black to work with him after meeting the comedian after a show in Minneapolis.[8]

Schlissel recorded Black's The White Album in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1999, with John Machnik, who would be his production partner for many years.[9] Released on -ismist, the album was an immediate success, eventually selling around 60,000 copies, more than the entire previous -ismist catalog combined.[10] Schlissel reinvented -ismist entirely, moving from punk rock to comedy. The label released several other comedy albums, including two by Doug Stanhope, Sicko and Something to Take the Edge Off, and Jimmy Shubert's Animal Instincts, while Schlissel launched Stand Up! Records in 2000. By 2002, -ismist had effectively closed down and been replaced by Stand Up! Records.[11] Black's next album, the post-9/11 The End of the Universe, sold similarly well.[1]

Even after Black moved to the larger Comedy Central Records label, he continued to work with Schlissel, who produced or edited four more Black albums in the mid-2000s, Rules of Enragement, Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues, The Carnegie Hall Performance, and Anticipation.[12] Of these, Carnegie Hall won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, while Luther Burbank and Anticipation were both nominated in that category.[13] Stand Up! also released the vinyl editions of Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues and Rules of Enragement.

Notable releases

Original productions

Stand Up!'s original works include:

Stand Up! also often partners with comics who have already self-released an album to re-release it in an expanded edition with broader distribution. Examples include Maron's debut Not Sold Out and Pepitone's A Great Stillness.[4]

Vinyl and collectors' editions

Stand Up! releases albums via digital download and streaming, CD and vinyl. Although vinyl remains a niche market with minimal profit margins compared with digital and streaming,[5] Schlissel told an interviewer for Roctober magazine that he continues to support the format because "the physical product matters. I want me and my artists to have something to hold in hand and say, 'I did this!'"[10] The label's dedication to vinyl has been credited with helping a resurgence in the format; Don Steinberg of the Wall Street Journal stated that Stand Up! has given comedy on vinyl "a hipster comeback,"[14] while John Wenzel of Vulture lauded the label for "honoring the history of the format."[15]

The vinyl picture-disc edition of Black's End of the Universe was autographed by Black before manufacturing; his signature is part of the vinyl art, under the grooves. Dana Gould, former co-executive producer of The Simpsons, re-released three discs on vinyl with Stand Up!: Funhouse, Let Me Put My Thoughts in You and I Know It's Wrong. For the 2009 re-release of Funhouse, the label also made an 8-track tape version as well as CD and vinyl.[10]

Stand Up! often works with larger labels to co-release collector's-edition vinyl versions of a comic's album. Besides the two Lewis Black albums, Stand Up! also released LPs of David Cross's Grammy-nominated 2002 album Shut Up You Fucking Baby[16] and the subsequent It's Not Funny and ...America...Great..., as well as Patton Oswalt's Feelin' Kinda Patton and Werewolves and Lollipops,[14] Hannibal Buress' Animal Furnace, and Kyle Kinane's Death of the Party.[10] In 2015, the label re-released Joan Rivers' groundbreaking 1968 The Next To Last Joan Rivers Album for Record Store Day; it had long been out of print.[17]

Philosophy and approach to comedy

The name "Stand Up!" was chosen not only for its obvious connection with stand-up comedy, but for its association with free-thinking and revolutionary ideals, as in the Bob Marley song "Get Up, Stand Up" and the intellectually confrontational comedic approach of George Carlin, Lenny Bruce and Joan Rivers.[8] The label's logo, a clenched fist holding a microphone aloft, was designed by street artist and activist Shepard Fairey in 2002.[8]

Rather than sticking to a single style of comedy, Stand Up! maintains a diverse set of styles and viewpoints among its artists. Political material on the label ranges from libertarian Tim Slagle to moderate Will Durst to the left-leaning Black and Maron.[10][6]

Reflecting the label's interest in edgy, punk-inflected comedy and Schlissel's roots in indie rock, Stand Up! often works with visual artists who share that sensibility, such as Fairey and Frank Kozik.[16] MAD magazine cartoonists Jack Davis and Mort Drucker drew the covers for albums by Tim Slagle and Dwight York, while Raymond Pettibon, the iconic punk artist who created many of Black Flag's album covers, drew the cover for J.T. Habersaat's Hostile Corporate Takeover.[11] Derek Riggs, who designed Iron Maiden's albums, did the cover for Glenn Wool's No Land's Man.[10] Wendy Pini, creator of the Elfquest comic-book series, illustrated the cover of Keith Lowell Jensen's album Elf Orgy.[10] Cartoonist Drew Friedman illustrated the 2014 vinyl edition of Eddie Pepitone's A Great Stillness.[18] Pia Guerra, Eisner Award-winning co-creator of Y: The Last Man, drew the cover for Ray Harrington's 2017 album Overwhelmed.[19]

Ties with Minneapolis and Austin

In addition to its roster of nationally known comedians, the label also has particularly strong ties with the regional comedy scenes in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Austin, Texas. Minnesotan comics on the label include Bamford, Chad Daniels, Mary Mack, Tim Harmston, Chris Maddock, "Fancy Ray" McCloney, Corey Adam, and Rich Kronfeld of Comedy Central's Let's Bowl, and Stand Up! has also released two DVDs of the Twin Cities public-access cable series Drinking With Ian.[7] In Austin, the label has put on multiple showcases at the annual SXSW festival, and has produced albums by Austin comedians including Andy Ritchie, David Huntsberger, J.T. Habersaat, John Tole, Doug Mellard, and Ryan Cownie. In 2019, Stand Up! released the posthumous album by Austin's Lashonda Lester, Shondee Superstar,[20] which was praised by Paste magazine as "a lovely introduction to a voice that's both purely unique and universally relatable ... If the world is only lucky enough to have one album from Lester, it's a blessing that it's a recording of a complete show."[21]

Other works

Roku channel

Stand Up! has a streaming channel available on Roku featuring new and archival comedy videos and podcasts.[22][7]

Akumal Comedy Festival

From 2012 to 2015, Stand Up! hosted the annual Akumal Comedy Festival in Mexico, a nonprofit event held in Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Akumal which raised money for the Mexican Red Cross. The festival featured comics performing in both English and Spanish. Headliners included Darryl Lenox, Maggie Faris, and Derek Sheen. The festival was co-founded by Schlissel and Twin Cities comic Gus Lynch, who also acted in the films Saving Silverman, North Country, and I Spy.[23] Lynch died after an accidental fall in Akumal in 2014; the final festival was held in his honor.[20][24]

Scottish tartan

In 2017, during the label's first visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Schlissel registered a Scottish tartan with the National Records of Scotland in the name of Stand Up! Records. Designed by Edinburgh kiltmaker Gordon Nicolson, the tartan blends the colors red, black, and tan (from Fairey's Stand Up! Records logo), blue (from the Israeli flag, symbolizing Schlissel's Jewish heritage), and silver-grey (for -ismist Recordings' 25th anniversary).[25]

Discography

All releases from 2000 and 2001 were originally issued by -ismist Recordings, the predecessor to Stand Up! Records. When the titles were repressed, starting in early 2002, the branding was switched to the Stand Up! Records imprint. All titles from 2002 onward were originally issued by Stand Up! Records, unless under license from another label, or bringing an out of print release back into print.

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Snyders, Matt (2008-05-21). "Indie comedy label Stand Up! has produced the edgiest comedy in the country". City Pages. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  2. ^ Hendrickson, Tad (2016-09-28). "Meet the Minnesotan who helped launch the careers of Lewis Black and other comedy stars". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  3. ^ Joe Randazzo (2 June 2015). "An Interview With Dan Schlissel". Funny on Purpose: The Definitive Guide to an Unpredictable Career in Comedy: Standup + Improv + Sketch + TV + Writing + Directing + YouTube. Chronicle Books LLC. pp. 159–. ISBN 978-1-4521-3559-5.
  4. ^ a b c Marc Maron (2018-09-03). "Episode 947: Dan Schlissel". WTF with Marc Maron (Podcast). Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  5. ^ a b Schaust, Sam (2018-05-10). "The Long Play: Why Stand Up! Records' Dan Schlissel Won't Stop Printing Comedy on Wax". Twin Cities Business. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  6. ^ a b John Wenzel (December 2009). Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny: Easyread Large Edition. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-1-4587-4742-6.
  7. ^ a b c Roth, David (2019). "The Art of the Laugh with Stand Up! Records and Dan Schlissel". TPT Originals. PBS. Twin Cities PBS. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  8. ^ a b c Wood, Drew (2018-07-12). "Q&A with Dan Schlissel of Minneapolis Label Stand Up! Records". Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  9. ^ John Machnik at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Austen, Jake (August 2013). "Slissel". Roctober. Chicago.
  11. ^ a b Matteson, Cory (2013-08-03). "Comedy record producer learned the ropes in Lincoln". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  12. ^ Dan Schlissel at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-02-28.
  13. ^ "Artists: Lewis Black". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  14. ^ a b Steinberg, Don (2012-04-12). "Laugh Tracks: Once a '60s-'70s Relic, the Comedy Album Is Back". Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  15. ^ Wenzel, John (2014-05-29). "Jokes on Wax: Inside Comedy's Vinyl Resurgence". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  16. ^ a b Smith, Rod (30 September 2007). "A Man Walks Into A Bar". City Pages. Minneapolis. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  17. ^ Mehta, Raghav (2015-04-17). "Stand Up! Records Releases Rare Joan Rivers Album for Record Store Day". City Pages. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  18. ^ Drew Friedman at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  19. ^ Pia Guerra at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
  20. ^ a b Lara Smith (17 April 2019). "Dan Schlissel: For the Record". Comedy Wham (Podcast). Comedy Wham. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  21. ^ Bond, John-Michael (2019-04-26). "Lashonda Lester's Posthumous Shondee Superstar Documents A Comedy Genius Taken Too Soon". Paste. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  22. ^ Baumgartner, Jeff (2015-08-31). "Mediarazzi cuts costs of connected-TV plays: vendor 'levels the playing field' for smaller producers, developing apps for less than $10,000". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media LLC. 145 (29).
  23. ^ "About the Akumal Comedy Festival". Akumal Comedy Festival. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  24. ^ Walsh, Paul (2014-12-02). "Twin Cities comic dies after fall from ruins in Mexico". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  25. ^ "Tartan Details - Stand Up! Records". The Scottish Register of Tartans. Retrieved 2020-02-22.

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