Review: Pat Thornton, Dumb Phone Calls

It’s all right there in the title: Dumb Phone Calls finds Toronto comedian Pat Thornton funnelling sketch comedy into a dialtone niche. There are many calls here - the album burns through 16 sketches in 16 minutes - and they are consistently, spectacularly dumb. But leaving it at that doesn’t acknowledge the quality of foolishness Thornton generates across the album’s short-n-sweet run.

Confusion usually reigns on one, often both, ends of the receiver: opener Mario’s Pizza finds both parties perplexed as to who is buying and who is selling, while Fridge Run collects attempted “is your refrigerator running” prank calls that quickly go awry when met with unexpected responses. Each sketch pushes its premise to the limits - like album highlight Wrong House, wherein a caller refuses to acknowledge he has walked into someone else’s abode, despite the overwhelming evidence (“I’m not recognizing anyone in the pictures you hung up!”). But Thornton's varied content keeps each call unpredictable in just how it will perplex and delight, from Phone Booth’s simple one-note rush to the multi-part odyssey of Tune Up, tracking one man’s birthday quest to get a tune-up without a car.

Dumb Phone Calls was released April 17, 2020.
Listen to it here.