Mock the Week Revisited in Hackney (Frankie Boyle Live (DVD))

Member Name: dkm1981

Product:	Frankie Boyle Live (DVD)
Date:	17/04/09 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Frankie's below the belt observational humour

Disadvantages: Many of the jokes you'll have heard before

-Introduction-

Frankie Boyle was born in Glasgow in 1972 and makes his money as a comedian, newspaper columnist, writer and regular on various comedy shows.

I discovered him on Mock The Week and, like many before me, found his dark, observational comedy to be very amusing and occassionally (or not so occassionally) below the belt. I certainly think he is the best thing on Mock the Week, so I decided to go off in search of any live material he has done.

Frankie Boyle Stand Up Live was filmed at the Hackney Empire on 10 November 2008. It begins with him talking to the audience, then he speaks a bit about his favourite subjects - namely Scotland, Gordon Brown and paedophiles - then he invites the audience to ask him some questions, before concluding with more about his favourite subjects.

-My Opinion-

I enjoyed the performance, but it didn't make me laugh out loud, which is something he regularly does on Mock The Week. There are two reasons for this I think. Firstly, a lot of the stuff he uses is on this DVD, I've already seen on Mock the Week. Whilst some of it is still deserving of a laugh the second time round, much of it has lost it's shock value by this point. This leads me to my second reason - his work needs the shock value to make you laugh whilst cringeing slightly. In Mock the Week, he intersperses normal conversation, with the odd off-the-cuff, below the belt statement, whereas here everything is that way, so the shock value has gone by a few jokes in.

It felt like he was trying too hard as well and that you really had to concentrate. His jokes don't really flow, they are more a series of comments and observations, which at some points felt like a bit of an onslaught and not something that you can just watch mindlessly, which is sometimes what you want from a comedian - I just want to be entertained, I don't want to have to work for that entertainment.

That said, he is still funny and his observations will, more often than not, make you laugh even though you feel like you shouldn't really do! This DVD is worth a watch, if you're a fan and maybe even if you aren't - although you should prepare to offended - very offended!

Summary: A must for any fan, but not the best if you've seen his other work