Stand Up! Records

History

In the 1990s, Schlissel started -ismist Recordings in Lincoln, Nebraska, putting out albums by Midwestern punk, metal, and alt-rock acts like Killdozer and House of Large Sizes, as well as Slipknot’s 1997 debut demo, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. When Slipknot moved to Roadrunner Records, Schlissel grew tired of running a music label and relocated to Minneapolis in 1998 for a software job. He thought about shutting down -ismist, but changed course after persuading Lewis Black to collaborate following a Minneapolis show.

Schlissel recorded Black’s The White Album in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1999 with John Machnik. Released on -ismist, it sold roughly 60,000 copies—more than everything else the label had ever put out combined. Schlissel then shifted -ismist from punk to comedy and launched Stand Up! Records in 2000.

By 2002, -ismist was effectively gone, replaced by Stand Up! Records. Black’s follow-up, The End of the Universe, sold just as well. Even after Black signed with Comedy Central Records, he kept working with Schlissel, who produced or edited four more Black albums in the mid-2000s.

Notable releases

Stand Up!'s original works include Lewis Black's The White Album, a 2002 set of outtakes called Revolver, and The End of the Universe. The label released five albums by Doug Stanhope: Sicko, Something to Take the Edge Off, Die Laughing, Deadbeat Hero, and From Across The Street, as well as the Unbookables' Morbid Obscenity benefit CD. Schlissel recorded and produced Marc Maron's second and third albums, Tickets Still Available and Final Engagement, and released a best-of compilation of Maron's podcast WTF with Marc Maron.

Maria Bamford's first two albums, The Burning Bridges Tour and How to WIN!, were recorded and produced by Schlissel, along with the live DVD Plan B. Greg Proops released two albums on the label in 2007: Houston, We Have a Problem and Joke Book. The Sklar Brothers released three albums: Poppin' the Hood!, Sklar Maps, and Hendersons and Daughters. Judy Gold's debut album Judith's Roommate Had a Baby was released on Stand Up!. Hannibal Buress's 2010 debut My Name Is Hannibal also appeared on the label.

Other releases include Jonathan Katz's Caffeinated and expanded editions of self-released albums by Marc Maron and Eddie Pepitone. The label releases albums via digital download, streaming, CD, and vinyl.

Philosophy and approach to comedy

The name Stand Up! was chosen for its connection to stand-up comedy and its association with free-thinking and revolutionary ideals, inspired by the Bob Marley song Get Up, Stand Up and the confrontational comedic approach of George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, and Joan Rivers. The label's logo, a clenched fist holding a microphone aloft, was designed by street artist and activist Shepard Fairey in 2002. Stand Up! maintains a diverse set of styles and viewpoints among its artists, with political material ranging from libertarian Tim Slagle to moderate Will Durst to left-leaning comics like Black and Maron.

Discography

Stand Up! Records began as an imprint of -ismist Recordings, which handled the initial releases in 2000 and 2001. When those albums were reissued starting in early 2002, they were rebranded under the Stand Up! Records name.

From 2002 forward, all new titles were released directly by Stand Up! Records, except for those licensed from other labels or brought back into print after being out of circulation. The label's catalog includes: SUR 001 Lewis Black - The White Album (CD, vinyl LP); SUR 002 Doug Stanhope - Sicko; SUR 003 Doug Stanhope - Something to Take the Edge Off (CD, vinyl LP); SUR 004 Jimmy Shubert - Animal Instincts; SUR 005 Lewis Black - Revolver (5" CD EP, 10-inch vinyl EP, including Mini CD EP); SUR 006 Lewis Black - The End of the Universe (CD, vinyl picture disc); SUR 007 Doug Stanhope - Die Laughing; SUR 008 Rich Kronfeld - Factory Accident Sex (DVD); SUR 009 David Cross - Shut Up, You Fucking Baby!

Did You Know?

• Comedian Marc Maron described Schlissel as 'a guy who loves comedy, and is very attentive to the process of recording comedy,' and joked that 'you've done everybody's first two records.'
• Henry Owings, founder of humor magazine Chunklet, stated that Schlissel 'has done a great job trying to reintroduce some fresh blood into comedy albums.'
• In 2015, the label re-released Joan Rivers' groundbreaking 1968 The Next To Last Joan Rivers Album for Record Store Day; it had long been out of print.