Before officially came out to the mainstream as a comedian and social critic who knew no boundaries, he honed his more raunchy material in black comedy clubs, road-testing the controversial act about sex, racism, and his own screwups that he would use to great effect later in his career. , recorded live in 1971 at in Hollywood, is a perfect example -- one look at the distinctly adult-looking characters on the album cover and the X-rated track titles and you know the tame stuff once did on has been jettisoned in favor of the ribald. The comedian riffs his way through black culture ( ), sex ( ), and street life ( ). And though his monologues and segues aren't as razor-sharp and seamless as they would become on records like , they're still pretty damn funny. Tracks like and may seem redundant, but if anyone can expose the differences between the two and milk them for a laugh, it's . Though not part of 's nine-disc anthology, this record was recently reissued on CD. ~ Steve Kurutz