Dara O'Briain Talks Funny: Live In London - 2008

Introduction

There are three DVD symptoms of an impending Christmas. You see the demographics of the shop shelves begins to shift at this time of year, and where previously there had been a selection of classic foreign cinema, a soupcon of opera, and a smattering of 60s kitchen sink drama, there will now be the triumvirate of sports retrospectives, interactive DVD board games, and stand-up comic performances. I don't understand the first two, at all. I'm not the sportiest person in the world, my idea of heavy lifting is usually measured in pints, but I don't mind watching sport on occasion. I don't understand watching it again though. It's not like the results are going to change the second time around. Usain Bolt isn't going to shave another tenth off the world record the next time you watch the 100 metres final of the 2008 Olympics. It's the sort of present bought by someone who has three minutes to spare and really doesn't give a crap. How many times can you watch the highlights of Man Utd's 2003 season anyway? And then there are the interactive DVDs, Satan's idea of entertainment. You spend more time listening to the machine grind and whirr than you do actually playing the game, and they always have a z-list celeb presenting the thing. Here's a revolutionary idea. How about turning off the TV, and playing an actual board game, one with dice and pieces and totally lacking in electronics? How about a nice game of Ker-Plunk? Seriously, if it doesn't take a couple of AA batteries, it's of no use to some people…


But the comedy DVD, now that's a godsend. I can't stand relatives at the best of times, but having to be in close proximity to them for more than twelve hours at a time, that's a punishment on the level of that meted out to Sisyphus. Annoying, sugar fuelled, hyperactive brats intent on testing their presents to destruction, and what idiot decided to buy them the loudest thing in the toy store? Having to be polite and cordial to people I can barely stand, and then having a smile plastered on my face as my uncles and aunts question my life choices, and point out how my cousins are far more centred and successful in their careers, earning half a million in the city, working 25 hours a day, eight days a week, happily married, with fifteen kids, being a positive role model to all of them and able to find time to be a pillar of the local community. And I know it's the wrong time to mention their precious angel's coke habit and the fact they cruise the red light district of a Friday night, as that might sour the mood. At moments like that, I'm faced with the tough choice of stuffing my head into a turkey, and either waiting for them all to go away, or the air to run out. There's no better way to relieve that Christmas stress than with a decent comedy DVD, 90 minutes of stand up that reminds you that, yes, life is that ridiculous, and it's better just to laugh about it. It also helps if you have the key to the home theatre and you can lock all the annoyances outside for the duration.


Dara O'Briain is one of those observational style comics who fit the bill perfectly for a Christmas comedy stress relief device. You've probably seen him moonlighting as the host of Mock The Week, topical news quiz, where his prime duty appears to be stopping Frankie 'so old it's haunted' Boyle getting them all executed for treason. Talks Funny Live In London shows him at work at his day job, a ninety-minute routine in front of a theatre audience at the Hammersmith Apollo earlier this year.

The Disc

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that captures the performance perfectly well, and a DD 2.0 stereo track that presents no problems. This disc also has English subtitles, which is an oddity in my experience of comedy discs.

Extras

Another oddity for comedy discs is that this disc is practically loaded with extras, certainly more than you would usually get.

David & Dara's In Vision Commentary & Drinking Game™
I first saw this extra in Ed Byrne's Pedantic and Whimsical DVD, where he and Dara turned a critical eye to his performance. Here, Dara is joined by David Mitchell as they proceed to pick over the leftovers of the main feature. As before it's meta-comedy, comedy about comedy, and it isn't necessarily as funny as the 'real' thing. Still, watching two people have a chat and down a few pints over 31 minutes is enough to put a smile on your face. I had a Twilight Zone moment though, as they watched the show on the very same television that I did, and I had the feeling of someone walking over my grave every time they pointed the camera at it. My TV was on my TV.

Live In Dublin
53 minutes of Dara's performance at Vicar Street in Dublin. More stand up, more audience interaction, and a whole lot of Irish specific jokes that are liable to go whizzing overhead. It's still resoundingly funny though, and it's interesting to see that Dara takes more of a confrontational tone with the Irish audience when compared to his UK performance.

The Littlest Extra
Living up to the name, this is 2 minutes of the bit before the intermission.

Conclusion

It's ethnic profiling, and I am suitably ashamed of myself for it, but Irish comics do get a bit of a head start when it comes to stand up comedy. That accent goes a long way in delivering mirth, and that, coupled with a facility with the English language that puts most native speakers to shame is the first rung on the comedy ladder. Then there is the lyrical imagination, poetic in its elegance, a facility to paint pictures with words, and a knowing twinkle in the eye and a playful cheekiness that lets them get away with just a little more than the average comic, and it's almost cheating. Dara O'Briain has all this and more. Of course if you go north of the border, that knowing twinkle becomes the burning flame of righteousness, but this is a comedy DVD and not a sermon.

Dara's thing is audience participation, which you would think would be akin to taking one's life in one's hands, but there's a sense of unpredictability, energy and danger with it that really works well, as he builds a rapport with the front row of the audience during the show. His act develops from the conversations he has with the audience, and you get the feeling that while the majority of the material may be prepared, there's a spontaneity to it that other comics lack, and some of the stuff that comes out of the interactions has an improvised freshness to it that surely can't be rehearsed.


The bottom line to these things is whether it's funny or not. I found Dara O'Briain to be hilarious. I usually watch these DVDs at night, when no one else is around to distract me from compression artefacts or poor stereo placement. I got in trouble for laughing too loud. Also, it's one of the few discs where I've watched the clock, but not for reasons of boredom. It's a densely packed set, full of comic observations, punchlines and gags, and I was exhausted at the pace of it. I needed a breather, a glass of water because my throat was dry from laughing, so I paused the disc and took the time to compose myself. I looked at the clock and only half an hour had passed. That's thirty minutes from a 94-minute show. If laughter is the best medicine, I wonder if it's possible to OD?

I love this disc, if only for the gag about DVD anti-piracy warnings that echoes everything I've ever ranted about whenever I've been given a tainted disc to review. But the rest of the disc is jam packed with observational comedy gems that are guaranteed to exercise your laughter muscles. Unlike many other seasonal specific DVDs, you'll actually be happy to see this one poking out of your stocking come Christmas morning.