Rating: Country: USA Release Date: February 28, 2006 Distributor: Paramount Home Video Cast:
Ron White
Otis Lee Crenshaw
Vic Henley
Steve McGrew
Grade: B
I had my trepidations about this set when it first started. For one thing, it kicks off with Ron White -- whose comedy I absolutely love! But this set was a cliff-notes version of They Call Me 'Tater Salad', which I already own. And it was censored, both by the bleeps and by Ron himself. And it still had the break-to-commercial cutaways interrupting the act. So by the time Ron got done yet again telling us about expensive sunglasses salesmen, snooty ex in-laws, and his dog Sluggo's artificial insemination treatments at the vet, I was in a yawning mood.
Top down: Ron White, Otis Lee Crenshaw and the
Black Liars, Vic Henley, and Steve McGrew.
Thank God I had never heard of the other three comedians who were also featured on this set -- it made the comedy fresh. At least to me. Otis Lee Crenshaw comes out with the Black Liars (a guitar player and a double-bass player) and regales the audience with an extemporaneous song about a man picked from the audience, plays a touching ballad about prison rape, and (in the best set they do) joins in with the Black Liars telling us why each of their instruments is like a woman. (Expect the guitar player to go solo some day, by the way; he's got a decent voice on him.)
Following Otis Lee is Vic Henley, another southerner I'd never heard of. He starts with the whole northern stereotyped image of stupid southerners, based upon accent alone, then deftly slips into a deep New Yawker yo-yo-yo, just to show that maybe there's not all that much room to talk about how people talk. But he doesn't do that to make us think he's any smarter than the stereotype. Even he admits that sometimes he opens his mouth just to remind himself that he's "...only this far from a 'You ain't got no legs, Lieutenant Dan.'"
Wrapping up this quartet is Steve McGrew, who looks like he'd be more inclined toward professional football than to standup comedy. He's found the cure for depression -- the 24-hour Wal-Mart (because walking around there late at night puts your life into perspective, and makes you realize that maybe it's not so bad after all.) Pig sex and dad's boxer shorts somehow figure into all this, but you'll be laughing too hard to figure out how it pieces together.
Three out of four ain't bad. I'd have liked to have seen something new from Ron White, but I suppose I can wait for his upcoming DVD, "You Can't Fix Stupid". Still, even with the reruns, this disc is worth the money for sheer blue collar comedy from some of the folks who haven't yet made the tour.
Previews include South Park Complete 7th Season, Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour, Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain, and the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (Uncensored). In addition to the previews, you can watch a couple of Comedy Central Quickies, comprised of Drawn Together: Suicide Hotline, Reno 911!: This is Your Destiny, and South Park: Stupid Spoiled Whore.