comedy

Abso Lutely Productions, the company behind the Eric and Tim Awesome Show, Good Job!, Moonbase 8, The Eric Andre Show and numerous stand-up comedy specials, unveiled its Abso Lutely Records label on Sept. 30, with the release of stand-up comic and musician Tim Platt’s debut album Teeth Like Beak. The label intends to capitalize on the current popularity of stand-up comedy specials through audio recordings that will be released on vinyl (among other formats), and producer and Abso Lutely partner Dave Kneebone says, give comic artists more creative control and the opportunity to own their work.

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“Abso Lutely Productions has always thrived on giving the ultimate creative control directly to the artists and helping to shepherd their vision to their audience. Trust the idea – it’s at the core of what we do,” Kneebone says. “We created Abso Lutely Records so that we can help push performances and performers that we love, but who might not quickly find an audience on their own.

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Although the label won’t limit its releases to musical comedy, Kneebone says Platt — who has written songs for Sesame Street and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — is the ideal choice for Abso Lutely’s first album, in part, because vinyl will be a key component of its business plan. Teeth Like Beak, which was recorded at Brooklyn’s Union Hall in February, is a mix of songs, character work, one-liners and confessional stories.

Abso Lutely has produced projects for Netflix, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, HBO, and Showtime, and worked with such break-out talents as Andre, Nathan Fielder and Hannah Einbinder, as well as comedy veterans Scott Aukerman, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross and Andy Daly. It’s more recent stand-up special productions include Einbinder’s Everything Must Go, John Early’s Now More Than Ever and Brent Weinbach’s Popular Culture. In 2023, Abso Lutely — — which was formed in 2007 to produce the surreal sketch comedy show, Adult Swim‘s Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! — partnered with the comic improv institution, the Upright Citizens Brigade, which minted such contemporary comics and actors as Amy Poehler, Aubrey Plaza, Donald Glover, Kate McKinnon and Nick Kroll.

Kneebone spoke to Billboard about his love of comedy albums and vinyl, Abso Lutely’s business strategy, which includes giving comics more control of their work, and the growing role of social media in breaking talent, among other subjects.

I’ve got to ask you — is Kneebone your actual surname?

It is. It’s an old Cornish name — English miners from way back.

I cursed it all the time growing up. What a dumbass name. But as you age and you grow into it, especially in this business, it doesn’t hurt to have a somewhat distinct name attached to you.

Why start a record label at this period in time?

It’s something that we — particularly Tim Heidecker, who is a musician and a comedian — have been talking about for a long time. But it was never our core competency. We didn’t know how to run a label. As time went on and we started spending more time shooting standup specials — it’s a big moment right now for standup specials — we were like, why not us? Hannah Einbinder, who just did her special for Max, was keen on getting a record made of the special. I was like, that’s a great idea. I went home that night and thought, there’s no reason that we can’t give that outlet to these folks that we’re working with.

I grew up listening to comedy records: Bob Newhart and Steve Martin and Bill Cosby and Bob and Doug McKenzie’s Great White North record. It’s a great experience and a great gift to give yourself. It’s theater of the mind. I’d rather sit home with a beer and listen to it on a record than be in a club sometimes. We were like, why not do this and give a chance to the folks who are not Hannah Einbinder and John Mulaney and Nikki Glaser? Our stock and trade at Abso Lutely Productions is finding off-the-radar comedic voices. Here’s a way to help amplify that. And it doesn’t cost as much as making a television series.

Will you be digital only?

No. Digital is so easy that obviously it’s digital first. But part of the love that I have for comedy records is the record — the artwork, the liner notes, the physical. I love going through record stores, and I think the renaissance vinyl records are having is fantastic. We want to be a part of that, and we have more options than ever because of buddies of ours who have custom vinyl pressing houses. Why not make something beautiful to begin with? Something great to listen to and also great to hold in your hands.

Listening to a great comedy album is the equivalent of hearing a great album or song. Every time you hear it after that, you’re able to say, “I was at this place, doing this, feeling this when I heard it.”

It’s a core memory. You create the picture of the bit in your mind, whether it’s Bill Cosby or Bob Newhart or Steve Martin. I have very vivid memories of the way my eight-year-old brain conceived of this joke. I still see it. You don’t get that from watching [stand-up] specials. The only restriction is — I love silent, physical comedy, but that doesn’t translate well.

You’re not going to do a Billy the Mime album.

Actually, that would be a great joke. I’d love to do that. Here’s the world’s greatest mime.

In choosing Tim Platt, who does a lot of musical comedy, for the first album, is that going to be a theme of your label?

Not necessarily, although I’m drawn to that. When Tim Platt and I started talking about us releasing his record it was a natural fit for that reason because he’s so talented musically as well.There’s something about Tim Platt that is evocative of Steve Martin early on. Martin jumped so seamlessly and deftly between bizarre, high-concept joke structures and then playing an alluring melody that turned into a joke. Tim does such a nice job of navigating between those two things that it felt like yeah, this wants to be a record. But we’re not going to be exclusive to musical comedy.

Given that an absurdist threat runs through the comedy of your partners and Tim Platt, will your label offer a lot of that?

That’s my taste and Tim Heidecker’s and Eric Wareheim’s taste — something that’s surprising and weird and fresh. That’s always been the guiding light for our company. Let’s find something we haven’t heard before. Somebody saying something in a way we haven’t seen before.

Comedy that you must hear and cannot be explained.

Without question. That’s usually, to me, the hallmark of something that’s special and good.

What terms are you negotiating with the comics who release albums on Abso Lutely? Do they keep their masters?

This is still a work in progress, but our guiding principle is — and one of the things that spurred us to do this — is that the artists should own their work. We’re not doing this as a charity. We’ll split it with them, but so many of the deals that get made these days are, hey young guy, I know you’ve been touring this hour that you’ve been working on for five years. Come here to this giant mega streamer service and here’s your little sum of money. You can brag about it and send the links to people, but there’s no long tail of revenue. It’s good advertising, but the work that you crafted for so long, kiss it goodbye. It’s heartbreak.

I was surprised to hear how little a Netflix plays for name comics to shoot specials for them.

Obviously, this is universal. The economics aren’t what they used to be. And it gets to a point where, especially if you’re younger or not a mainstream comic, where the upside is not that far up anymore. So, why not go craft the record with the artwork that you want, with the sound that you want, with the material that you want and get it out to an audience and directly participate from dollar one in the benefit of this thing?

We’re doing the same thing with shooting specials here. We’ve done it under a partnership with [Upright Citizens Brigade]. We’re like, “We can make good specials without them costing a million dollars. And the focus is artist-first. Let’s do it for a lower budget and share the control and ownership directly with the artist in a more substantive and genuine way. We’ll make a record of it. We’ll get it on SiriusXM, we’ll create merch.” Being able to provide multiple streams of revenue to these comics is something that we can do now. This technology didn’t exist for us 20 years ago, but this is something that we can do now and we can do it damn near as good as anyone else.

Who’s going to distribute your records?

We’ve talked to a few people. Right now, we’re doing it ourselves, but when we’re up on our feet a little bit more we’ll extend the conversation and try to find a partner.

Social media has become an important tool for comics to grow fan bases. What is more important today – touring as a standup comedian or social media?

I think they have to go hand-in-hand now. You have to learn to use them together. But I also know comedians who choose to ignore social media because they don’t want to burn good material. Everybody is going to see it, and then they come to the club with preconceived notions, and you have to do that bit again. It’s a double-edged sword.

Can you reveal any future releases?

We have a couple more. I can’t give you any details because we haven’t closed the paperwork, but they’re great, weird comedians who I love and who are familiar in the comedy world. Those and at least one more this year or early next year. Then next year I would like to do a full slate — our anticipation is that we would like to do half a dozen at least a year.

Will there be a video component to the Tim Platt record?

Not from Abso Lutely. He filmed the show that as part of the recording at Union Hall that we are releasing, but this is only a record release for us. That said, many of the upcoming projects we have there will be a dual component, where we will make a special and we will do the record version of that special as a tandem piece for that project.

What are the biggest challenges or headwinds that the comedy business is facing in the coming five years?

In the current media landscape — film, television and records — there is not so much of that middle level of tastemaker on the buyer side that there used to be. People with enough rope to hang themselves creatively to say, “I’m willing to try this. This might not be for me but there’s something in it. Let’s make a pilot.” Or, “I’m not sure what this is but let’s check it out. Let’s do a season of this show because that’s how it finds its legs.” That process is going extinct in a lot of ways — and it’s the biggest challenge that I face, as someone whose job it is to try to get an idea, a comedy bit or a joke or a piece of talent in front of a buyer.

It’s so interesting because there are more and more streaming platforms that need content. Is it just a fear of risk?

Yeah, to a large extent it is risk aversion, because the competition is so fierce. You don’t want to be out there taking funky swings at crazy little projects while your competitor over here is making huge big-name projects — big bankable IP. If you fail in your endeavor, then lights out. Which is unfortunate, because with comedy, the best s–t is made when people are like, “I don’t know what this is but let’s try it.”

That’s what Mike Lazzo — who we owe so much of our professional success to — was great at: taking risks. He was the head of Adult Swim, and a lot of that [programming] was born from, “Well, let’s give it a shot. Let’s build a boat as we’re sailing it.” It sounds like bad business advice, but it’s good for comedy.