A disappointment from the funny man (Frankie Boyle Live (DVD))

Member Name: louanna8

Product:	Frankie Boyle Live (DVD)
Date:	08/06/09 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Material is still funny

Disadvantages: Heard it all before, can be offensive

Frankie Boyle is a Scottish stand-up comedian who is probably most famous as a panellist on Mock the Week. Frankie Boyle Live is his first and only DVD to date. Filmed at London's Hackney Empire the show runs to slightly over an hour but there are a few extras(more about them later.)

Boyle's style of observational comedy touches upon many subjects including Scotland, disability, sex and several other topics. All of his preprepared material is delivered with excellent timing and wit bringing some huge laughs. In this show no topic seems taboo and he has no reservations about speaking his mind.

As with most comedians, Frankie also talks to audience members making jokes about their professions and lives. However, he does seem to devote a large part of the show to this (at least half I'd say) and I think he probably relies on it a little too much.

At best it is controversial and at worst offensive. I'm very broadminded and felt several times that he had crossed the line. Especially during the audience interaction I felt uncomfortable at times and clearly some of his live audience felt the same.

There is a lot of strong language and the DVD deserves it's 18 rating because of this and the content.

Another disappointment is that nearly all of the material has previously been used on Mock the Week. There is very little new to be found here so if you've watched a lot of the forementioned tv program then I think you'll feel a little short-changed. Obviously comedians can't change their stand-up everyday but it would have been good to hear some new stuff. His old material is still very funny but it is just that-old.

There are three extras on the DVD:
F**K You Scotland - behind the scenes tour diary
Interesting to watch but nothing too exciting here. Mostly just random conversations between Frankie and his team.

Sketches from BBC3 comedy Rush Hour
I'd never seen Rush Hour before and after seeing these 4 sketches which feature Frankie I'm in no rush(get what I did there) to do so. The jokes seem very forced and Boyle uncomfortable acting.

Drug experiment
I just did not get this at all. It runs to an hour and is essentially Frankie and 3 friends talking rubbish after taking herbal highs. It is the sort of drunken conversation you have with friends that seems funny to the people involved but no-one else.

After watching the dvd I won't be going to see Frankie live. He doesn't seem to enjoy being on stage all that much and I think Mock the Week is the best place for him. He shines on there and his jokes come across much better when being bounced off other comedians.

This is probably for die-hard fans only and although it's an ok watch I did not laugh as much as I normally do when watching comedy DVD's. Equally if you have never seen MTW then this could be a good buy for you as it will all be new and fresh.
Overall a disappointment from a man I considered to be one of Britain's top comedians.

Summary: Watch mock the week instead