Album Review: Brendan D'Souza, "Clever, Hip, and Scary!"

I laughed; I cried; I learned to weaponize my transness to get out of admin work. 

Clever, Hip, and Scary!, the debut album from Brendan D’Souza is an exploration of the comedian’s complicated relationship with stand-up, the universe, and everything.

Much like their friendship, D’Souza’s album is an open wound that will never heal because it just feels so good to pick at. Each moment of growth and wisdom is slashed with cutting wit, always keeping the listener on their toes. No other comedy album I’ve reviewed to date has given me this much anxiety. 

Debut comedy albums tend to play out as a loose gathering of the comedian’s best material to date, rather than a cohesive product with a singular theme. Clever, Hip, and Scary! somehow manages to achieve both - throwaway tags and off-the-cuff remarks that I recognize from their past performances, are tightly wound into a story about a young queer POC comedian trying to find themself. All the while bringing a larger narrative to life, which they share intimately and earnestly (after the jump scare, of course). The album is solidly written and beautifully structured, all wrapped up in a neat little package - if you can consider the sharps container in a bus station bathroom a package.

My therapist taught me that funny people use humour to hide who they really are. Brendan D’Souza taught me that comedians use humour to celebrate who they really are.

This comedian’s ability to find space to share heavy moments with the audience without sacrificing the flow of their set is a skill many comedians spend decades mastering. With D’Souza, this talent seems to come naturally. This is because they speak from the heart. A dark, broken heart. A heart that’s seen some shit. A heart that refuses to heal, because it just feels so good to pick at.

"Clever, Hip, and Scary!" was released May 8, 2023.
Listen to it here.