Standup / Sketch Comedy

Once dubbed "the world's funniest woman" by The London Times, musical savant-cum-comedienne Anna Russell takes a satirical look at music's cultural elite in this collection from CBC's archives. Featured targets include tedious musical appreciation lectures, ladies' music clubs, and a unique perspective on the opera world and musical history. Among the excerpts are "Wind Instruments I Have Known: The Bagpipes," "A Lecture on the French Horn," and "An Address by the President of the "Women's Festival Committee." ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Season one of Chappelle's Show is highlighted by one of star Dave Chappelle's most inspired character creations: Clayton Bigsby, a blind man who doesn't know he is black and has become a race-bashing member of the Ku Klux Klan! Also good for laughs are Dave's faux "outtakes" from the miniseries Roots; a dramatization of what will happen when blacks finally get all that "reparation" money; the bigoted viewpoints of Hollywood's biggest animal stars; a crack addict's anti-drug speech at a grade school; the time-traveling "Player Haters"; Dave's recurring feature "Great Moments in Hook-Up History"; and funky revisionist versions of Ghost, Pretty Woman, and The Matrix. Guest stars include comedian Chris Rock, talk show host Carson Daly, musical performers 50 Cent and Mos Def...and Stephen King (!?!?). ~ All Movie Guide

The Chris Rock Show host and former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Rock brings his critically acclaimed brand of social commentary-themed humor to this 1999 standup comedy presentation from HBO. Also released as an album, Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker features Rock on-stage extolling his razor-sharp wit and wisdom on such topics as gun control, President Clinton, homophobia, racism, black leaders, and relationships. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

While Dave Chappelle's sketch comedy series on Comedy Central made him into a major star, he's also one of America's best standup comics, and has been honing his skills on the road for years. Chappelle returns to the stage in this special produced for the Showtime premium cable network, in which he offers up his sharply pointed opinions about a wide range of subjects. Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth features Dave sounding off on race, sex, justice, his own success, his fans, and much more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The original stand-up comedy series Def Comedy Jam helped to launch the careers of many of today's top comedic stars. This video collects some of the finest moments of the show, featuring cutting-edge humor, outrageous jokes, and sometimes scathing remarks on hot societal issues. Featured performers are Martin Lawrence, Bill Bellamy, Eddie Griffin, and J'vonne Pearson.
~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide

Comedian and author Jeff Foxworthy hosts this program, tracing the history of Southern comedy. Jeff Foxworthy: Comedy Classics Deluxe Edition includes live footage from the wildly successful stage show featuring Foxworthy and Bill Engvall, along with clips highlighting comedians of yesterday and today such as Will Rogers, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl, Rod Brassfield, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Jim Varney, Jerry Clower, Junior Samples, Brother Dave Gardner, Gary Mule Deer, Etta May, Steve McGrew, and Larry the Cable Guy. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Fans of Chris Rock will enjoy this compilation of comedy sketches he performed during his stint on Saturday Night Live. Skits include his turn as an editorial commentator on the "Weekend Update" segments, and as radical talk show host "Nat X" donning a gigantic Afro wig. ~ Laura Mahnken, All Movie Guide

Before his untimely death in 1998, comedian and actor Phil Hartman had a successful film and sitcom career. He is probably best remembered, however, for his work on NBC's long-running variety show Saturday Night Live. Over the course of eight years, Hartman took on a varying array of characters, from Frankenstein's monster to Donald Trump. Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman collects several of the performer's best-loved sketches, such as "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer," "The Frank Sinatra Show," and "The Anal Retentive Chef." Other titles in the series include Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell and Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Popular comic actor Vince Vaughn brings a newly invigorating sense of Old West attitude to the world of standup comedy as he captures the carefree spirit of Buffalo Bill's turn-of-the-century "Wild West Show" on the stage, and the cameras are rolling to capture every belly-shaking laugh in this look at the 30-day, 30-gig tour that featured Vaughn serving as emcee to a wild host of renegade comics that included John Caparulo, Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst, Sebastian Maniscalco, and a whole host of surprise special guests. Of course, when you gather as many comedians together as Vaughn did for such a high-concept tour, the laughs are sure to keep coming once the show has ended, and in addition to offering standup footage of each comic in action, the feature-film version of the tour also offers a hilarious look at what it was like for a group of fun-loving guys to make their way across the American landscape while bringing down the house night after night. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In the tradition of such guffaw-fests as The Kentucky Fried Movie, Amazon Women on the Moon, Loose Shoes and Tunnelvision comes the low-budget sketch comedy feature Beer: The Movie, produced by and starring the boys from the Beer series on the FUSE music video channel and the hit comedy series Gigolo. Join Robb Ackermann, Nick 'Biff' Corrado, Tommy Gutter, Peter Hoare, Chris Lilli, The Poonman, and Adam Szachacz as they star in a series of the most outrageous and off-the-wall comedy sketches ever committed to film, utilizing an SNL-style format liberated from censors and restrictions. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Some critics carped that the star of Bill Cosby, Himself delivered his nearly two-hour monologue while sitting down. "Look how lazy Cos has gotten!" went the complaint. Well, we can tell you that Cosby exudes more energy and charisma from a seated position than most younger comics do while jumping around the room. As an appreciative audience roars with laughter, Cosby holds court on any number of subjects, ranging from childbirth, to his views on substance abuse. Bill Cosby, Himself isn't really a movie, but fans of Cosby (both casual and fervent) will be thoroughly satisfied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The incisive wit of Real Time host Bill Mahr cuts a telling swath through a wide variety of contemporary topics in this collection of memorable clips from the popular HBO Original Series. Additional "editorials" covering topics that most newspapers wouldn't dare to touch make this release worth checking out for fans of Real Time who just can't get enough of Mahr on the small screen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Each of the 33 episodes in the first season of WB's redneck sketch-comedy series Blue Collar TV center around a basic theme: typical titles include "Family" (the opener), "Naked", "TV", "Bad Jobs", "Marriage", "Vacations", "Sports", "Funerals", "Pets", "Bad Habits", "Dating" and "Testosterone" (which really must have been a mouthful for the barely literate characters played by the series' talented comedy troupe). Three carryovers from the popular "Blue Collar Comedy Tour", Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall, appear in every episode, while the fourth "Blue Collar" headliner, Ron White, shows up as a guest star. Likewise guesting are such country-music favorites as Travis Tritt and Leanne Rimes, not to mention a few folks not normally seen in "yahoo country", notably Drew Carey. In addition to such recurring bits as "Redneck Dictionary" and "You May Be a Redneck If. . .", the show serves up such one-shot skits as "400 Pounds of Intervention" and "House of Gravy Restaurant." When all was said and done, Blue Collar TV averaged an audience of 1.3 million viewers throughout its first season, darn good for a WB network show! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide