Food for laughs...
Introduction
John Pinette is an American actor and stand-up comedian. If you follow the stand up scene you might have seen him around. He performed at last year's Edinburgh Comedy Festival and went down a storm. He has has been a regular on the comedy club circuit, but took a break during 2005 and 2006 to play Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray on tour and subsequently on Broadway.
I'm Starvin' is his most recent show, and was recorded in front of a packed house at the 2008 Montreal Comedy Festival.
Video and Audio
A slightly misty/wishy washy full frame transfer (in 2009?) and a DD2.0 stereo soundtrack.
It's probably getting boring reading me moaning about the fact that a DVD doesn't look as it should, but these things have been around for 10 years or more now, so it shouldn't be too difficult to make a DVD of something shot in 2008 look like it was shot in 2008, and not 1998.
The important thing is that the sound is all fine, so you can hear everything that's happening - there's not too much visual humour in Pinette's act.
Extra Features
A small selection of little segments of film footage from before/after the gig, and a few minutes of footage from the encore (why not just leave it in the main feature?)
Conclusion
An American comedian who does travel well. Part of the reason for that is that he has literally travelled a lot, so he has plenty of observations about things outside of the USA, including his trips to Britain, France and Italy. His routine is largely based around his physical appearance, dieting and his appetites, but it doesn't become tired because he delivers it in a warm and engaging manner, with just a hint of confrontation thrown in.
Pinette is a really funny man and an enjoyable performer to watch. If you're looking for something a little bit different to the slew of UK stand up DVDs released around this time of year, this might just tick your box.
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