Customer Reviews

Best of the Improv, Vol. 4

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

What's the deal with false advertising... If you are hoping to see some great standup by Jerry Seinfeld, forget it. You get an approximately 90-second clip. But that doesn't stop them from featuring him prominently on the cover of this DVD. The rest of the bits are so-so. Ray Romano is the best of the bunch. My advice is to rent this one, not purchse it.

The description (and probably original intent) of this collection of stand-up material is promising: footage of comedians at a well-known club. Unfortunately, all was lost in the editing.

Only small snippets are shown from each comedian. First of all, this destroys much of the effort of these comedians to craft a good act. Jokes out of context are often not funny. A good comedian will organize his/her material for the best effect. By grabbing small sections of various acts, the benefits of this effort is completely lost. In the case of this collection, it seems that the editor picked out snippets that were not particularly good IN context. The end result is you see each comedian for 1-2 minutes and they are not even funny for that short period.

I daresay that most people seeing this collection on television would change channels rather quickly. This collection is not worth the time it takes to watch let alone the cost of the DVD.

The editorial review says, "A must have for collectors and all connoisseurs of comedy!" That reviewer obviously did not watch the same DVD. Although the length is listed at 60 minutes, the DVD runs only about 50 or so minutes since you only see brief parts of comic routines. Plus, Rick Overton (the host) can get quite annoying after a while. Skip this!

Any true stand-up fan will be disgusted by this. The headliner of the DVD, Jerry Seinfeld, tells about 3 jokes. I bought this DVD thinking I was going to see entire Improv acts from each comedian. Wrong! You get about 2 min tops from each comedian. Disappointing!

These are clipped from A&E's Live at the Improv - total of 6 individual volumes, each with different talent, available also as a boxed set. Each concentrates on a 5-7 min. set comprising basically the most famous premises from each comic. Not necessarily a great or comprehensive collection, but nice as an intro. to each comic's particular style. Liked the early Norm and Ray work, and the vintage Tim Allen.

Star: Jerry Seinfeld American Comedian/Actor
Star: Norm MacDonald Actor/Comedian
Star: Ray Romano American Comedian
Star: Richard Jeni Actor/`The Mask`
Star: Charles Fleisher
Star: Rick Overton Comedian
Star: Tim Allen Actor/`Santa Clause`
Star: Dennis Wolfberg

In addressing the prior reviewers - don't buy this expecting a full set from each comic - it wouldn't fit on a 60 min. video. But if you want a 'flavor' of what each comic can do, or does, this is perfectly plausible. I agree Seinfeld's features are way better, but this is more like comic scene studies than full feature presentation. Know what you're buying first.

This is a 45-minute TV special which may prominently feature Jerry Seinfeld on the cover, but in all honesty, Seinfeld fans will want to go with "I'm Telling You for the Last Time" which contains all of Jerry's famous standup routine about life's amusing minutiae. Here, if you blink (well, a 1-minute blink), you just might miss Jerry altogether. The other celebrity stand-up comedians featured in this edition get more time, but none more than a few minutes.

"Best of the Improv" would imply that this would be first-rate standup comedy, but most of it is not. Ray Romano's shtick is a funny forerunner to his popular sitcom. Norm Macdonald's deadpan delivery is good for a bunch of laughs in a short amount of time, particularly his dentist comedy. Tim Allen can be one of the funniest people on the planet, but what's selected from him is only mildly amusing.

Most of the other comedians who are featured are no-names to those who are not stand-up buffs. There's a good reason they're not very well known, as they're not very funny. All in all, it's mostly forgettable and not worth purchasing, particularly if you are expect to see Seinfeld and Tim Allen at their funniest. Not something you'd revisit.

The only reason I bought this was because Paula Poundstone was on it and as of yet, there is no full-length DVD of her stand-up act. Her clip didn't even last four minutes! Right when I got into it, it ended! None of the other comics (except Tim Allen) were that good. Not worth it.

As expected from a "compilation" from a company trying to make money from big names. The whole thing clocks in about 44 min! (Approx. 60 min in the cover; I guess that includes the credits!!) The acts were good but its all like a teaser trailer. Seinfeld gets about a minutes worth. I liked Ray Romano's piece.
Just too short! Rent it!

THIS DVD HAD A VERY SHORT SEINFELD JOKE AND THE REST WERE VERY
MEDIOCRE COMEDIANS. I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS PURCHASE.

Buyer beware, especially Seinfeld fans. Heed the other reviews. Seinfeld has a 2-minute clip. To be honest, I haven't even really watched most of the other chapters. As soon as I realized that Seinfeld was a mere two minutes of this rip-off, I signed right on and wrote this. Thanks a whole bunch, Improv and Koch Vision.