You’ve already broken your New Year’s resolution to get back in shape: admit it.

No? You haven’t? Well screw you then. I’ll just sit my fat ass here and write this review. I get enough exercise pushing my luck, thankyouverymuch.

If you’re still in the gym (or trying to get a friend to join you), the folks over at R.E.D. Distribution have a new CD out called Workout: Pumping House.

The 16-track CD features tracks by dance vocalist mainstay Jocelyn Brown and drag diva RuPaul. The CD is available for download and purchase; physical CDs also include a seven-day guest pass to Bally Total Fitness so you can go ogle hot bodies. Oh yeah, and I guess work out too. “The Biggest Loser” fans will recognize the show’s theme song “Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous” as one of the compilation’s standout tracks.

After a heavy listen, I found little differentiation between tracks, which I guess is pretty good if it’s a CD you’re supposed to work out to; each track melds into the next providing a constant thumping beat on a full listen. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you and your tolerance for dancing with your hands above your head.

For more information, visit the CD’s website and give it a listen.

Workout: Pumping House [Amazon]

Dag, DAG. The talking heads over at Comedy Central convinced you to head up an obvious wink-wink-nudge-nudge show to up their cachet and fill the Black comedic void left by Chappelle’s Show. This show — Chocolate News, is supposed to be a satirical look into the issues relevant and prevalent in the Black community, with a dash of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for good measure. Cram it all into a 22-minute show and you’ve got Chocolate News.

I want to like this show. I mean, it looks good on paper, y’know? David Alan Grier is an accomplished comedian most well-known for his roles on In Living Color. Comedy Central has the political satire game on lock. Surely putting the two together would be comedic gangbusters. So far though, Chocolate News comes off like…well…In Living Color. Characters Grier have played so far include a breast-baring transsexual, an overweight, misogynistic gangster rapper, and a cross-eyed thug against high gas prices. The combination of acerbic editorials and half-assed sketch pieces (along with a 30-minute time slot) will probably doom this show to a first-season cancellation. It’s a shame really; considering how many people are prone to showing their ass because of the overwhelming support of Barack Obama, Chocolate News could be at the forefront of capitalizing on the idiocy and gaffes that are sure to come.

Instead, we have David Alan Grier with fake tits. Nice.

Not to be left behind in the Black-comedian-hosts-current-events-satire trend, CNN will premiere D.L. Hughley Breaks The News tonight at 10pm. My original thought? I hope D.L. has some super glue handy. A Black man and broken property? I’m just sayin’…

I had the chance to see the first episode earlier this week (there are also some video clips up on CNN.com), and just off the top, it seems like more of a finished product than Chocolate News. The show is an hour long, and features interviews and in-the-field type reporting satire.

Y’know, like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Tune in tonight and judge for yourself.

Poking fun at Atlanta is sort of like someone poking fun at your mother. Sure, you can do it, but damn it, no one else better say anything wrong. However, in a city with high foreclosure rates and mortgage fraud, extreme debt, crumbling sewers, traffic snarls and unaccredited school districts, shouldn’t we laugh a little at it (if only to keep from crying)? A troupe of talented improvisational sketch comedians from Chicago’s famous Second City Theatre brings that much needed laugh with The Second City: Too Busy To Hate…Too Hard To Commute.

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