Review: Leonard Chan, Peanut Butter and Jellyfish

There are a number of jokes about overachieving sprinkled throughout Leonard Chan’s Peanut Butter & Jellyfish, but the album itself could genuinely be considered an overachievement. Chan’s career choice might be an ongoing source of disappointment for his parents, but he is undeniably excelling at it in terms of quality.

In a little over 40 minutes, he deftly tackles everything from the logical fallacies of Asian stereotypes (“We’re the best at martial arts, worst at driving […] They can’t both be true. You think a guy who can catch a fly with chopsticks doesn’t know how to make a merge?”) and the pressure to defy those stereotypes to socioeconomic analysis, to disparities in sex toy design, and poorly conceived Great Gatsby parties. He handles hate mail with enviable cool and skill. He proves that a comedian can mine their marriage for very funny content without ever resorting to misogyny. He takes a premise about murder, race, and media coverage that could have gone terribly off the rails and, for lack of a better word, kills it.

Even some of the track titles become amusing in context. And he can sing! All in all, it’s a solid A minus effort.

 Peanut Butter & Jellyfish was released March 13, 2020
Listen to it here