It never occurred to me while I was listening to Adam Sandler portray a cranky, elderly Toll Booth operator named Willie who threatened rude patrons with grievous bodily harm on his comedy album They’re All Gonna Laugh at You! that I was in the auditory presence of a genuine American comic genius. And yet, middle-school me—desperately stifling high-pitched guffaws as I covertly listened to my Discman on the back of that middle school bus nearly 30 years ago—likely wouldn’t have been surprised that this here was a talent in league with Mark Twain himself.
After all, there’s not an 11-year-old on this planet who finds The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn funnier than “The Beating of a High School Janitor” or “Lunchlady Land.”
All of which is to say that Adam Sandler...