Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"I Hate Times New Roman", 19 Feb 2009
Russell Howard has made quite a name for himself on TV, with Law Of The Playground, where he discusses his childhood in school, Mock The Week, where he has a weekly slot in the satirical show; and has been on Live At The Apollo recently. With all this in mind, and quite enjoying his output, I thought I'd rent this DVD and see whether it was as good as he was on MTW, where he's a quick witted comedian.
This show isn't bad, but it's not as side-splitting as it should be. He does have a small rapport with the crowd, but his jokes often get too excitable so you're left confused to what he is joking about. I do like his immature jokes and his child-like persona on stage, but sometimes he goes hyperactive and you loose the reason to laugh.
Don't get me wrong, there's some fabulous jokes - but you really have to be in the mood for him and the fact that about 20% of the show is stuff he said on Mock The Week is quite irritating. This has also happened to Frankie Boyle - they seem to think we won't notice them dropping a joke they did on there. It's quite funny too, as some guy actually shouted something about cats that he said on Mock the Week and he looked genuinely shocked.
This isn't the worst comedy video of last Christmas' bunch, but it's not as good as it could have been. I feel let down now, as I have been patiently waiting for this to be sent, and it's just not lived up to the hype. At least Russell keeps the language relatively clean.
Enjoyable, but not amazing.
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13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite the laugh-fest I'd hoped for!, 20 Nov 2008
Writing reviews for comedy DVD's - particularly stand up - is very difficult as comedy is so subjective. I had seen Russell Howard on BBC1's "Live at the Apollo" and I thought his 20 minutes set was one of the funniest and most refreshing performances I had seen in recent years and I bought the DVD on day of release.
To my slight dismay I found it a little underwhelming.
His performance is the same manic, zany & energetic style that I had seen on TV, yet I feel he never quite got into his stride and the laughs seemed few & far between. Howard's stand-up is delivered in a relentlessly energetic fashion, running and leaping around the stage, his material infused with a sense of child-like wonder and a unique brand of anti-cynicism. Don't get me wrong - there are laughs to be had, but after watching the latest Jimmy Carr DVD where I was laughing from start to finish, this just seemed a bit lacking.
If Howard can be accused of anything, it's of being a fairly "safe" performer - rather than do anything especially new with stand-up, he simply attacks the job with all the enthusiasm he can muster, revelling in his role as an entertainer and doing a brilliant job at it. The odd bout of crowd-based improvisation aside, he stays in the same gear throughout the performance.
The DVD package itself is especially disappointing. The production is good, if not perfect - although the editing could've perhaps made some parts of the show a little slicker, it instead gives the impression of a live performance captured in its entirety, retaining a genuine feel. The running time is roughly 1 hour, even accounting for an extra Q&A segment recorded especially for the DVD, and the only extra is the aforementioned Q&A, which is disappointingly short.
As I said at the beginning, comedy is subjective, but me? I bought this DVD, watched it just once then sold it immediately right here on Amazon Marketplace. Draw your own conclusions from that.
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20 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hold yourself..., 25 Oct 2008
Unlike many of the other reviewers, I didn't go to see the show that this dvd is of, although I did go to see his most recent tour only a couple of weeks, and I came out hurting all over. I could literally not stop laughing. The material is solid and, unlike many comedians, his improvisation is spot-on, and a lot of the time these provide the best moments.
Like I said, I haven't seen this dvd, but as a review of Russell, he deserves no less than full marks and I'm confident this will be one of if not the best stand-up DVD this Christmas.
A word of advice though: From working in a large chain that sell's DVD's and CD's etc. it's obvious that these stand-up dvd's are released especially for Christmas, and every week upto christmas, the price goes up. If you really want one of these (when I say "one of these" I mean any stand-up DVD: Frankie Boyle, Dara O'Brian etc etc.) then buy it from Amazon or HMV.co.uk or within the first week of its release. If you can wait, your much better off waiting until after Christmas when the prices almost always drop by at least 50%. Last year, Peter Kay had a DVD out which i bought for someone a few weeks before Christmas for £14.99. Just before Christmas it went up to £16.99. On Boxing Day it dropped to £7.99, so it's definitely worth waiting if you can.
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