The Best Comedy Albums of 2011 (So Far)

Even though 2011 isn't over yet, we've already had an impressive number of excellent comedy albums, both from veterans and relative newcomers. Check out the best comedy albums of 2011 so far.

1. Louis C.K. - 'Hilarious'
It almost seems unfair that comedian Louis C.K. releasedd his latest album, Hilarious, within the first two weeks of 2011. It's unfair because the album is so outstanding that it set an impossible standard for every other record that followed it; over and over again, I can hear myself saying "Sure, it's funny...but is it Hilarious?" It's so rare to find a comic with a point of view these days that coming across one as sharply defined as Louis C.K.'s is a kind of miracle. Hilarious finds the best comic of today at the top of his game, and truly earns its title.

2. Natasha Leggero - 'Coke Money'
On her first comedy album, Coke Money, Natasha Leggero does exactly what her contemporary female comics like Kathy Griffin and Chelsea Handler do -- only much better. She's the spoiled-brat-as-comic, the girl who is all too aware of her own shortcomings but who still isn't going to suffer fools lightly. That's how she ends up taking on L.A. club girls, douchebag guys, egotistical rappers, toilet babies and many, many more in routines that only get funnier as the album goes on. Coke Money is so much better than what several of Leggero's more successful or better-known contemporaries are putting out. It's one of the funniest records of the year.

3. Tommy Johnagin - 'Stand Up Comedy 2'
Tommy Johnagin is way too funny to have finished in only second place on Last Comic Standing in 2010, as evidenced by his second album Stand Up Comedy 2. Johnagin is a terrific joke writer and, like a lot of great comics, has a knack for applying logic to situations that may not call for it and pulling the humor out of that juxtaposition. It's the kind of comedy album that will hold up to repeat listens, and it moves quickly; Johnagin knows how and when to get out of a bit and into the next one. Bring on Stand Up Comedy 3.

4. Amy Schumer - 'Cutting'
Overlooking the double meaning in the title of Amy Schumer's debut album, Cutting, it's a great example of the comic's approach to stand-up: take a subject that might otherwise be sensitive or off-limits (in this case, teenage cutting) and turn it into comedy. When she's not destroying political correctness for its own sake, she's comes up with some terrific black comedy one-liners, and her album shows a real intelligence and knack for using language. Oh, and it has maybe the best final joke of any comedy album I've heard in a long, long time.

5. Norm Macdonald - 'Me Doing Standup'
There's something so laid back about Norm Macdonald's approach to comedy -- as evidenced even by the title of his latest album, Me Doing Standup -- that I think some people have a hard time taking him seriously. Macdonald segues from a deconstruction of language into long-form bits about 24 hour news, the woman troubles of Tiger Woods and gives an involved, detailed description of just how he would go about getting away with a murder (not that he's planning on killing anyone, but a river can only go so long before there's a bend). The material is funny enough on its own, but it's made even better by Macdonald's trademark delivery.