Norman Rockwell is best known for his paintings of average American life that often graced the pages of the Saturday Evening Post. These works of art depicted smiling parents playing with their playful children in parks or families sharing a holiday meal. While this is the ideal, the American dream few families ever get to live out the life that was shown in those paintings. For most of us there is a certain degree of dysfunction in our families. It may range from the drunken uncle who nobody talks about to the senile grandmother who blurts out family secrets to anyone who would listen. Then there are those who come from seriously damaged families. Mostly they do not have a happy ending up ahead. Often they repeat the same mistakes their parents and grandparents made falling into abusive relationships, drugs and alcohol. One man chose a different way to cope with the dysfunctional nature of his family. For Christopher Titus the answer came in humor. He took the horrible events that shaped his childhood and turned it into fodder for his stand up comic routine. He would talk opening about growing up in a family that was as far away from the Rockwell painting as possible. I have seen several of his standup acts on Comedy Central and HBO. My favorite is his one man show, ‘Norman Rockwell is Bleeding’. This very apt title gives just a small glimmer of the off beat, dark wit of this talented comedian.

Titus did not always turn to comedy to get out his frustration and personal anguish. He is extremely open in his act as to just what made him turn to the stage as an outlet. While intoxicated on alcohol and several other psychotropic substances he fell into a bonfire during a big party. He almost died from the burns and smoke inhalation. He refers to this moment as his epiphany. He realized that if he perpetuated the family tradition of self medicating and substance abuse his life would be over. Titus set out on another path. He began to use his experiences in his comedy act. He talked without the usual internal censor letting the audience see how he grew up warts and all. What some would call child abuse Titus would call life at home with his family. A much diluted versions of his act were made into television sit-com on Fox called ‘Titus’. It ran for three seasons but ultimately was cancelled. When you listen to his act, especially on this two CD set of his ‘Rockwell’ show, you will have to agree that this is not subject matter for a regular broadcast TV show.

At the basis of his show are his family and girl friend. Titus’ mother schizophrenic with an IQ of 185 and a sever alcohol abuse problem. Like many who suffer from this disease she frequently chose not to take her prescribed medication preferring instead to drink to excess. His father was a drunk. Titus seems to prefer frank, down to earth terms when referring to his family not the overly sanitized socially acceptable terms like ‘alcoholic’. In retrospect Titus is able to see a dark humor in the drunken rants and bizarre actions of his father. He also refers to a former girlfriend who appears to have a case of bi-polar syndrome. Even as an adult Titus is drawn to people with mental problems. He also talks about his brother Dave and sister Shannon and how they found their own ways out of the family business of crazy behavior. Some may not be interested in a CD presentation of his show. They would have preferred a DVD. After seeing this act on television there would be something added by watching Titus pace back and forth on the stage like some caged animal but since so much of his act is purely his stories this verbal format works extremely well.

He starts the show talking about how with all the syndromes and mental illnesses lately the news reports that 63% of American families are dysfunctional. This means that people who came from homes like his are now the majority and dysfunctional is therefore what is normal. If you have a regular mommy and daddy and white picket fence then you are the freak. He notes that his parent’s divorce settlement involved a bar tab. After they split he lived with his dad who would go on to five subsequent marriages. Titus noted that when he was a kid he thought wives were rent to own. His show is obviously structured, he did perform this nightly, but there is a feel that it is just his stream of consciousness flowing out over the audience. For Titus this is a form of therapy where people pay him instead of him paying the doctor. He notes that mental illness is like any other kind of medical condition. You just have to follow the rules. You wouldn’t take a heart patient on a roller coaster so you shouldn’t take a mental patient on a hunting trip. He tells the audience that is mom was insane. He does not mean insane as in colorful he means ‘we the jury find…..’ Being from a messed up family has its perks. One thing that Titus mentions is there is nothing that can bother him much anymore. After having your drunken father drive you to your mother’s competency hearing there is little that will shock disrupt a child. Normal people just don’t have enough experience with real problems so when even a small one pops up they are ill prepared to cope. He describes himself as a kid who was always in trouble. The police had his home number on speed dial. As he puts it he just liked to pull pranks. It just so happened that most of his pranks were felonies. He does say some positive things about his father. Although he was the type of man who never missed a drink or drug he also never missed a house payment and Christopher never went hungry. His father would go hungry himself rather than see his children in want of food.

Christopher Titus is able to do what few comedians; what few people in general can do. He recalls what most would think of as horrors in his childhood with humor but not with bitterness. He loves his parents even though their problems were passed down to him. Titus is able to combine frank observation with honest often raw emotions. Titus makes us laugh because his stories come from such a human place. He stands emotionally naked before his audience baring all the family laundry for a few laughs. This is the kind of album that you will listen to many times. Each time you hear it you will take something else away with you. Titus is a brilliant because he is such a relatable person on stage. This is not for the children in the family but will make the perfect comedy album to listen to when the kids are away and your have some friends over.