 
|
DVD: Lewis Black: Black On Broadway
(2004 Home Box Office, Inc.)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes
Comedian Lewis Black, perhaps the most currently popular advocate of angry-guy comedy, is as prolific as he is funny. Releasing a CD and DVD simultaneously is not a new concept for an artist these days, but releasing two different shows is. (Musicians would have one different track on each, of course, soaking you twice for essentially the same performance and screwing their biggest fans, the completists). Maybe the reason is that Comedy Central owns the rights to the audio concert and HBO owns the rights to this video special, although both companies probably roll up to the same conglomerate ledger. But who cares? Twice the Lewis, twice the fun! As the title suggests, New Yorker Black performed at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in Manhattan to an appreciative crowd of fans.
If you're unfamiliar with Black from his prior work or his occasional meltdowns on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, imagine a seethingly angry high school teacher on the verge of an aneurysm. He's a lightning rod for life's foibles, exasperated gestures and vocal tics supporting scathing attacks on everything from bad weathermen and crooked politicians to reality television and no-fat milk. Black does not suffer fools well, and whether he's ripping Michael Jackson a new one or mocking our stupidity for paying for bottled water, his logic is airtight and his pieces are brilliantly paced. While his stuttering verbal explosions give the appearance of a ranting man on a tangent, what's underneath is intelligent, nuanced work that stands alongside the all time greats.
While Black On Broadway has many great moments - and it is very funny - I've seen him be more consistently hilarious. However, that might not be Black's fault. For some odd reason, whenever HBO films a comedy show, they constantly cut away to show the audience laughing. Why? Like if it's not funny I'm going to feel guilty and join them? Black's act is highly structured and polished, and although he's funny enough to listen to, he's hysterical to watch. Ironically, the Luther Burbank Theatre performance was probably a better show, and the CD works even without the visuals. But the CD and DVD are available at a very reasonable price: I got each for less than twelve dollars: and both are keepers that hold up under repeated play. There's no extras whatsoever on the DVD, which is a real shame; I'd love to see all of his Daily Show segments collected on disc. But at that low price it's still a bargain
Next time you see someone stuck in traffic laughing, don't assume they're a nut case. They might have Lewis in the player, helping to ease the pain of a day already shot to hell by the morning commute. Not that I'd know anything about that guy.
© 2005 - Bill Holmes