Christmas Without Tears, Judith Owen & Harry Shearer & Friends (Twanky)

The singer/songwriter and her husband, a co-creator of "This Is Spinal Tap" and famed "The Simpsons" voice actor, have organized live Christmas-themed performances for a few years now, featuring a rotating cast of characters you might know, with the proceeds going to charity. For 2015, they've provided us with an audio document of these performances, half of which were performed live. It's essentially a long EP, six songs, all originals. As you might imagine, a group of people who are mainly known for acting over musical endeavors are going to sound more like a Broadway revue than Trans-Siberian Express, but it's a worthy document if you're fans of these people. Judith Owen provides two solo tunes, "The Best Things" and "(I'll Sing) Silent Night for You," both singer/songwriter style piano ballads and strong candidates for the permanent Christmas canon. Amy Engelhardt brings the show tune chutzpah with a "Great Balls of Fire"-styled lament from mother Mary, "How Did This Thing Get In Me?" Harry Shearer, with help from Jane Lynch, Alice Russell and Ian Shaw, offers the slow jam parody "Too Many Notes," and former SCTV diva Catherine O'Hara sings "What Do You Give the Man Who Has Nothing?," which satirizes a person who wants to help the needy on Christmas but makes that desire all about himself. That leaves Fred Willard's monologue over a musical bed, "The True Story of Christmas," which is absolutely hilarious and should be heard widely. My main complaint is that after listening to this I stumbled over something that isn't on this collection and should be -- Harry, Jane and Weird Al Yankovic covering Jill Sobule's "Jesus Was a Dreidel Spinner." So here it is.