Comedy Blu-ray Review: Kathleen Madigan -- Gone Madigan (2010)

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When the David Letterman scandal involving sex and blackmail broke in 2009, it sent the media into a feeding frenzy for salacious sound bites and lurid headlines. However because I couldn't care less what public figures did in their private lives unless laws had been broken, the only part of the story that interested me was a gender based workplace detail that some reporters had worked into their coverage as a mere afterthought.

Yes, most of us were already well aware as to just how rare it was to see a funny woman in front of the camera. Yet in 2009, journalists buried what should've been the real lead upon revealing that at the time (and just as it had been for years), no female employees – not even a token chick or two– were working in the writers' rooms run by Letterman, Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien.

Of course, a radical shift won't occur anytime soon, but it's an important fact to keep in mind particularly when you understand that the reason you hear others complain that so much of late night comedy sounds the same is because – unlike real life – there's only one point-of-view being represented.

Therefore, while I was unfamiliar with Kathleen Madigan before given the chance to review this disc (again owing to the broadcasters boys club), it was thrilling to discover that the comic championed by peers Lewis Black and Ron White as one of the best and funniest in the country was none other than a forty-something Midwestern woman.

And yes, intriguingly enough and unlike Black or White, the only veteran comedian who felt the need to provide a quote that took gender into account as a "qualifier" for his praise of the keenly quick-witted observer of human nature was none other than late night host Jay Leno who dubbed Madigan “one of America's funniest female comics.”

Yet while there are certain aspects of her sixty-five minute set that definitely depend on her gender to pay off – particularly when stating she'd believe in polygamy if instead of fifteen year old passive girls, men married Madigan and ten of her world-weary, educated, cynical friends – overall, her daring yet relatable content is versatile enough to entice and provoke viewers of all walks of life in equal measure.

And although material about the comedy goldmine that is Sarah Palin sounds a bit dated in this 2010 Showtime special, Madigan nonetheless manages to put an impressive new spin on the old comics' standby in their bag of tricks by offering us a decidedly different take on political humor.

Whether dreaming up fictitious text messages sent from President Obama to Hilary Clinton or proposing that we solve the illegal immigration problem in the form of a game show wherein we can vote people out of our country including Americans who haven't “panned out,” Madigan breathes new life into what could've been extremely predictable terrain such as the war in Afghanistan and the health care crisis.

Although a few bits that incorporate foreign accents seem slightly too broad and out-of-sync with the rest of her forward-thinking ideas, Madigan gives Kathy Griffin a run for her money in an endlessly hilarious and far more thought-provoking critique of the questionably negative impact that Oprah Winfrey has on her legions of fans.

Given the inventive jam-packed set filmed at New York City's Gramercy Theater, it's only natural that Madigan begins to loose her footing late in the performance during a slightly disjointed segment on aging, which meanders everywhere from Vegas to Madigan's parent's home. Fortunately, the consummate professional is soon able to lead us back into a solid comedic rhythm in time for the conclusion of what is otherwise a smashingly successful act.

A solid high definition transfer with dynamic sound, Gone Madigan not only made me mad about Madigan but also incredibly glad that for once, the media didn't bury the lead by ensuring that more viewers will get a chance to see why the world of comedy is long overdue for a fabulously funny female point-of-view.

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FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

DVD Review: Craig Ferguson -- A Wee Bit o' Revolution (2009)

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In his wee small hours of the morning duty serving as the Emmy nominated host of CBS Networks’ The Late, Late Show, Craig Ferguson was described by Newsweek as “Late night’s best kept secret.” And of course the best way to unveil a secret is to shout it from the rooftops or voluntarily choose to make Boston’s Wilbur Theatre the site of his first ever stand-up comedy DVD by journeying to a city that Hollywood warned him was filled with loud, “surly drunks.”

Chiding that “that’s my family you’re talking about,” the Scottish comedian who recently became a full-fledged American citizen proudly returned to the city for the first time since his citizenship ceremony to deliver an 80 minute sprawling routine on America’s birthday in the summer of 2008 which is titled A Wee Bit o’ Revolution.

On the disc, he explains that it was his goal to become an American citizen following his first visit to the United States at the age of 13 when he memorably traveled in a car that wasn't stolen along with his cousins to see Blue Oyster Cult in concert (complete his first experience with pot).

And throughout the special, Ferguson is at his best when he goes off on unrelated narrative tangents thereby solidly and succinctly shocking us into laughing along in lieu of the ho-hum through-line as he gives us an overview of his life so far. Although this approach begins on an extremely strong note, it soon starts to decline downhill when the young Ferguson “the goofy kid gags” evolves into discussion of Ferguson “the man in rehab.”

In one of the DVDs most hysterical bits, Ferguson goes into Bill Cosby mode as he discusses life with “America’s stalker,” a.k.a. his beloved mom whom he affectionately describes as “an acid casualty” that never took any acid who coined nonsensical phrases like, “I can’t do eight tings at once, I’m not an octopus,” or—like my own father—warning that if you eat too much of the same kind of food, you’ll turn into it.

In describing his life in Scotland which he always saw as a steppingstone to where he knew he needed to be—America-- Ferguson bravely ventures into discussing the twenty years it took him to get sober with a mixture of humor and pathos. While doing so, he blends in some hard facts of his life with hilarious anecdotes about why Chloroform never caught on as a street drug to why alcoholics feel superior to junkies and why it’s always great to have sex addicts come to a meeting.
However, this segment borders on squirm inducing after the first few minutes when it seems to continue on a tad too long and makes us sorely miss his downright fall-out-of-your chair funny riff about Sean Connery which involved Ferguson engaging in Connery's perpetually unwavering Scottish accent in films like The Untouchables (“I’m Irish”), The Hunt for Red October (“I’m Russian”) until he reenacts Connery speaking Japanese in Rising Sun.

Thankfully, soon the humor gets back on track after his sobriety monologue finds him landing in Los Angeles. Recounting his audition as a Latino photographer for the Brooke Shields sitcoms Suddenly Susan which was so memorable yet so awful, that’s how he secured his gig on The Drew Carrey Show up through his discussion of marriage in a Jewish/Scottish ceremony to the birth of his son—Ferguson subject-jumps all over the map in his autobiography.

Yet, most intriguingly, he seems to do his finest work when he moves away from his own life and comments on everything else—most likely since that’s what he’s accustomed to doing on The Late, Late Show by discussing the events of the day.

And this is evident immediately in the disc’s most memorable one-liners and segments that find Ferguson describing the Scottish take on Star Trek's character Scotty in an accent that they felt sounded more like a Pakistani man who had had a stroke as opposed to somebody from “the old country,” to a brief but astute inquiry about why men frequently “adjust themselves” in public which will find an immediate kinship among women everywhere who are annoyed by the exact same action.

Eventually—in yet another tangent that interrupts another slightly dull anecdote about his life, Ferguson moves into an inspired and hysterically inventive take on an infomercial for a product he calls “the phone glove.”
But less successful are the more obvious and outdated jokes about Tom Cruise (which would’ve fit better in 2005), discussion about Oprah being a super-power (Kathy Griffin, anyone?) and a riff about the Hollywood-like sounding titles of adult movies that we’ve all heard before along with others that seem a bit like he was going for some easy baskets when what we really wanted from the incredibly talented Ferguson was more risky slam dunks.

Despite this, ultimately the DVD just released from Image Entertainment that also features a bonus sixteen minute interview and speech with Ferguson which were previously unavailable in the special’s initial airing on Comedy Central, is an uneven yet mostly funny disc. And although his Revolution is quite “Wee” and definitely from a killer opener had the potential to become quite a major one—probably it would’ve improved with editing or a different approach than the unsuccessful timeline with segues idea since the segues are so much better than the timeline.

However, at least we know we’ll be seeing a whole lot more funny from Ferguson both on a nightly basis as well as in more stand-up gigs in support of the DVD and in the future.