I have a penchant lately for reviewing stand up comedians. This is mostly a good thing. After all, stand up specials aren’t usually that long, have few extras and will hopefully provoke a laugh from yours truly. But lately, it seems that the comedians I get to review aren’t really that funny. Hopefully that trend changes with Daniel Tosh, star of the tv show Tosh.O. Heck, I wasn’t even aware he did stand-up. Well, here goes nothing.
We open to stand up comedian Daniel Tosh who receives a smattering of applause. His line to open the show is “Thank you for clapping what my parents are ashamed of”. Indeed. We can’t exactly boo what we haven’t even heard yet. Such actions are reserved for prop comics and mimes. As many comics do, he admits he sucks live which shows some social anxiety on his part.
He starts out with some regional jokes talking about San Francisco and brings up a brilliant point about sitting on a toilet seat backwards. I have a strange inclination to actually try that sometimes. But then again, I take pleasure in cheap thrills. Tosh moves on to blaming Global Warming on the Amish. I would also like to take this moment to blame my cellular phone bill on the Amish. They are absolutely crazy for the pre-19th ringtones.
Daniel also takes time on how to fix economy before starting a long spiel on various sports. I must say he is very well informed about the sport of baseball. He certainly is a fan. He also speaks about the Winter Olympics which as well all know is the sport most likely to be the first cut on an episode of Survivor. As usual, Tosh is throwing in a few bits of web humor as expected.
The comedian then hits on the fourth wall by explaining that he doesn’t like DVD extras. And for your information, Mr. Tosh, there are plenty of alternate endings that are indeed quite different. (But in truth, there are plenty that are quite the same). After spending some more time in sports, he wishes that he could judge a group of women like a dog show. Without giving away all of the jokes, what exactly did I think of the show?
Count me in the number of people who genuinely laughed at this performance. Daniel is masters of making everybody around him just a little uncomfortable at times even him at times. But it isn’t the kind of uncomfortable that you don’t want him to continue. It’s the kind of uncomfortable that you slap yourself in the head because you didn’t think of it before. That’s where this comedian excels.
Tosh’s voice does have the tendency to get on a person’s nerves at first. But over time, it develops into that neighbor that you secretly can’t stand because you know he is right. The comedy makes sense and the odd thing is that I think Daniel could be an even better stand-up comedian as time goes on. The only problem is Daniel has a personality suited to television and I think more lucrative offers in that field are in the cards for the young comedian.
Video
The video is in 1.78 Widescreen presentation. There is excellent use of color throughout this presentation. Somehow, the blue with the white on stage was an ideal choice for the concert. Darks are great (which is something you won’t hear me say of a lot of stand up specials) and given the material, you couldn’t ask for a better video spectacle. The only way this gets a better score is if Daniel Tosh became a woman with huge knockers. Okay, actually, that’s just creepy. Let us move on.
Audio
For the audio portion, we get a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo track. Audio is fairly average, it isn’t spectacular or anything but it does the job. Dialog is clear and there are no problems with Tosh or any of his opening acts. No sound effects here, but if you are expecting some, then I’m sure Carrot Top is down the hall. Actually, if you have watched Tosh.O, you’ll know that Carrot Top was once a guest and got a full body massage. Again, creepy. Perhaps the extras can lead us down a more favorable path.
Special Features
- Comedy Central Aired Version 42:03: The shortened, less filthy version of the special that aired on Comedy Central. Not sure why it’s here but I suppose if you think Daniel Tosh is a good comedian for the kids, you can have them watch this version (still pretty raunchy).
- Encore 11:26: Tosh wants the world to end today in his first bit for the encore. From there he mentions that Maggie Gyllenhaal should have played the Joker in the Dark Knight. Then it starts to ramble as he goes out into the crowd and mentions how this will probably be a dvd extra (he couldn’t be more right). It’s funny, but I can see why its an extra and not just tacked on to the special.
- A Day in the Life 8:52: This is a day in the life of Daniel as he prepares for his show, Tosh.O. Mostly, he stands in front of a green screen. There is a lot of sitting around with writers where he does absolutely nothing too. A neat bit with Corey Taylor of Slipnot is also here.
- Opening Acts: Jasper Redd 10:38: Jasper is from Knoxville, Tennessee. He’s appeared on Def Comedy Jam, Lopez Tonight and Carson Daly. He’s pretty funny but does play the race jokes a bit. His funniest bit is the one about Grimace which I have wondered for years. What is Grimace?(the purple thing from McDonalds) Seriously?
- Opening Acts: Matt Fulchiron 9:54: He can be found at www.thefullcharge.com. Matt has been on Craig Ferguson, Last Comic Standing Season 4, and is a regular at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. He’s full of catchphrase humor and has a nice bit about air mattresses. Speaking from experience, I know exactly what he is talking about.
Final Thoughts
Daniel Tosh was a pleasant surprise. If the only time you have ever seen Tosh is on an episode of Tosh.O, then you might have a cloudy view of the genius at work. He is very funny and knows how to push the limits of a comedy show into places that even where the comedian is uncomfortable. The video and audio are more than sufficient and I was surprised at the amount of extras that were found in the bonus features. Recommended, as long as you can take a joke about almost anything.
