Bengt Washburn - Bengt Over in Europe (CD)
Now safely settled back in the U.S., it’s time for Bengt Washburn, our pick for funniest Mormon (unless you count that whole Mitt Romney 47% business), to reflect on his time overseas with “Bengt Over in Europe.” In many ways, this, his fourth comedy CD, is a reflection on culture shock. On the idea that your first introduction, as an American, to Europe comes most swiftly from flying coach, cramped together with lots of different people all sharing one very tiny bathroom. That you carry with you all sorts of assumptions and see the world through a warped lens. That you’re not used to airport sex shops or cutting corners when it comes to paving roads, bagging your trash, or covering your man-bits. In the U.S., you’ve got enough room to drive while texting and doing Pilates and squeezing in a nap. You can toss out an air conditioner and a live badger and expect it’ll reasonably become an anthropological time capsule in 300 years’ time. And you can absolutely go to the beach without being reminded of cherubs (what should have beeen our first clue that a few things might have been amiss with the Catholic Church’s excited recruitment of young boys). And, of course, you can guess which historic incident can best be described as “like suing someone for stubbing your toe on their nuts” and why Washburn probably shouldn’t be in charge of potty training anyone—that is, if you’re playing the Bengt Washburn home game like the rest of us. Get with it!
Track Listing
- Heath Insurance
- Learning German
- Irritable Bowel
- Making People
- Dog Walker
- Trip to Italy
- Accidentally a Dick
- Thanksgiving
- Land Rush
- Do They Hate Us?
- Accents
- Culture Shock
- Things I Miss: Roads
- Things I Miss: Swimsuits
- Things I Miss: Garbage Bags
- German Sex Shop
- No Sex Talk