With healthcare reform in perpetual limbo, two wars, a beleaguered global economy and natural disasters of the magnitude we’ve never seen, if the end days aren’t coming for America, they’re certainly hanging out, drinking a forty, and waiting for us to screw a few more things up before they make up their minds. That’s why, in the face of all this madness, we’ve got to rediscover laughter.

Of all the formats that comedians use to sell their wares, I personally love the somewhat anachronistic format of the audio CD. The comedy album trumps the Comedy Central special, which, at 30 minutes to an hour, is too structured and filled with bleeps and commercial breaks. It beats the video podcast, which can also be filled with unwanted sponsors. The album also beats the comedy podcast (two or three funny people having a chat like the Ricky Gervais podcast), which suffers from its unrehearsed quality. The CD beats the DVD because if you’re big enough of have a DVD made of your stadium tour (see Dane Cook or Jim Gaffigan), the chances of hearing a joke with any real edge are slim.

Yet, if you go to iTunes and try to find the comedy genre, it’s not easy. It’s buried beneath a dozen links and while music albums are usually reviewed by listeners, it’s hard to find a frequently and well-reviewed comedy album. Of the bestselling comedy albums of all time, Dane Cook is the only comic on the list from this century, proving that fans of the comedy album are a relatively small and aging group of people. But the comedy album, while perhaps not the most popular format, is where you’ll hear the best material, at its most raw, with the highest likelihood of the unexpected. It’s usually recorded at a club rather than a theater or arena, during a long stand-up set, without commercials. Because the comedy club heightens the interaction between crowd and comedian, in many cases, unexpected exchanges make a funny joke even funnier.

So here are a few picks of recent great comedy albums that you should go out and buy right now, for America’s sake:

Midlife Vices, by Greg Giraldo

Why Midlife Vices? Because no matter how outrageous and edgy the joke, the target usually somehow comes out unscathed. Perhaps best known for his roasts on Comedy Central, Giraldo’s just a guy you want to have a beer with. But you’ll probably want to let him go off and have his Tequila shots and Puerto Rican hookers on his own.

The Must Download: Divorce / Snacks / Kangaroo F******g

http://www.last.fm/music/Greg+Giraldo/_/Divorce_Snacks_Kangaroo+F%40%40k%40ng

Final Engagement, by Marc Maron

Best known as the host of WTF, the popular comedian-interviewing-comedians podcast, Maron gives intellectual honesty a good name. Final Engagement is a two-disc set and Maron gives you your money’s worth, killing topics that range from China’s superpower status to his career disappointments to the painful and wicked funny bits about divorcing his second wife.

The Must Download: Baby House

http://www.last.fm/music/Marc+Maron/_/Baby+House

From Across The Street, by Doug Stanhope

Stanhope is a stand-up comedy machine. From Across The Street is his 7^th album and he’s lost none of his edge. How good is Stanhope? Bill Maher allegedly plagiarized his FreeLevi.org website idea from Stanhope’s SavingBristol.com, a site devoted to raising money for a Bristol Palin abortion (don’t pull your punches, Doug).

The Must Download: Funny Thing About Child Porn

http://www.last.fm/music/Doug+Stanhope/_/Funny+Thing+About+Child+Porn

Face Full of Flour, by W. Kamau Bell

Bell hates Tyler Perry, Mad Men, and was disappointed when Obama won because he was looking forward to moving to Canada. Bell brings the racial into the interpersonal and is appreciative of the increasing complexity of black/white relations in America in a way that other black comedians aren’t.

The Must Download: Liberal Rapture to Canada

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/face-full-of-flour-live/id355594566