I’m a longtime fan of comedian Dana Gould. I try to see him whenever he comes to a comedy club near us, and have enjoyed his appearances on innumerable late night TV talk shows over the years.
Gould is also the man behind “Hanging With Doctor Z,” a web series in which he plays Doctor Zaius from the original “Planet Of The Apes” as not a fictional character, but as a real old-time Hollywood schmoozer and name dropper for whom those movies were just part of his resume. Gould really commits to the character — with a professional makeup artist taking two hours to apply the prosthetics and hair — before conducting silly interviews with celebs like Jason Alexander, Laraine Newman, Kevin Pollak, and Patton Oswalt.
Gould has also been a writer on many TV shows, including “Seinfeld,” “The Ben Stiller Show,” and “The Simpsons” (for which he won two Primetime Emmy awards and was nominated for five more along the way).
In his latest standup special, “Perfectly Normal,” Gould covers lots of issues with his family, including his second marriage to a tall Swedish woman who drives him crazy by believing in the power of crystals (more proof of my longtime theory about men’s willingness to put up with anything in order to have sex with a beautiful woman). Other topics include vaccine deniers, his eighteen-year-old dog, and an old People magazine poll revealing the most trusted man in America in 1986 (no, I won’t spoil it).
As always, Gould is a master of word choice and timing. On a recent episode of the Phil Rosenthal/David Wild podcast “Naked Lunch,” Gould said that one of the comedians who most influenced him was Albert Brooks and admitted that whenever he watches himself, that’s all he sees. As far as I’m concerned, that’s reason enough to like the guy.
I was highly entertained by the special, which I’ve embedded below. Before you watch this, however, be forewarned that it contains more than a few NSFW segments, including an extended one regarding anal beads.