Rating: NNN
It could be that actor/comedian Rick Moranis suddenly realized it’s been 25 years since his last studio soirée, Bob & Doug McKenzie’s Great White North, and decided it was time for a second comedy song collection. SCTV hose-headery is nowhere to be found on The Agoraphobic Cowboy. Instead, it’s a lighthearted poke at country and western, with Moranis warbling about the great indoors using the late-60s work of country cut-ups Roger Miller and Shel Silverstein as a template. Some of the lyrical turns are clever, even witty at times, but we’re not talking laugh-out-loud funny. If Moranis were sharp enough to create a Chris Gaines-style alter ego and didn’t make the punchlines so obvious, The Agoraphobic Cowboy could’ve been an ingenious vanity project spoof instead of a soft-touch comedy record you’ll play once and file. Stompin’ Tom should really consider covering Four More Beers, though – that’s Sudbury gold right there.
