Review of Chris Rock - Bigger and Blacker

Introduction

Chris Rock. Loud, black and American. You either like his brand of stand-up or you don`t. I sometimes forget that he`s been in I`m Gonna Git You Sucka, New Jack City, or Dogma because his characters are usually far removed from the brashness of his stage routine. Not forgetting his In Living Color or Saturday Night Live roots, he still performs and retains a huge following on the comedy circuit. This performance features a loud and cheery New York audience. He`s won plaudits and awards for his writing and performances and it`s true to say that he`s quite memorable in a lot of the work he does.

I`m a choosy person to please when it comes to comedy. I find Monty Python`s Dead Parrot Sketch tiresome, but I love The Office, Fawlty Towers and The League of Gentlemen. Give me Father Ted over The Vicar of Dibley and Spaced over My Hero. I like Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, and Yes, Minister. I don`t rate Absolutely Fabulous, My Family, the new Only Fools and Horses, Birds of a Feather or Men Behaving Badly. Anytime there`s new comedy to watch on DVD I tend to be cautious because if it`s supposed to be funny, I want to laugh. Is that too much to ask?

Video

Presented with a 4:3 fullframe video transfer, Bigger & Blacker looks okay. Having been shot on NTSC video though the colours aren`t as rich, or the detail as sharp as we`re used to with film. Still, you can see Chris Rock with his black shiny suit, the stage and the audience with no problem at all. If you look closely, you might spot the odd white person in the audience too, though NTSC makes it a little difficult to be sure.

Audio

No need for anything fancy beyond Dolby Digital 2.0. Chris belts his lines out with no discernible audio problems. It`s clear and serves the DVD well.

Features

Easy to navigate static menus with just a couple of extras:

• Chris Rock Bio (22 static pages) - Lots of interesting things to read about the man if you`re a newbie.

• Best of the Chris Rock Show trailer (0:44) - A collection of the best bits of his Stateside comedy series.

This isn`t usually the kind of DVD to have extras as it`s purely stand-up, so it`s nice to get the bio. There are no subtitles. Bigger & Blacker comes in a cardboard snapper case.

Conclusion

At the end of 65-minutes I can safely say that I did laugh. Heck, I enjoyed watching Chris give it some. He covers anything and everything from white kids shooting in schools to gun control, insurance, women and fat black girls. Black exploitation provides some humour but it`s good to see that he doesn`t rely solely on this aspect for comedy. There are things everyone can relate to.

He`s irrepressible and sardonic, and the raw language just fuels his humour and frustration at things that are just plain `wrong` with the world. Politically Correct doesn`t exist here so be forewarned. If you`ve seen the man in action before and like what you see, then the chances are you`re going to like this too.