Customer Reviews

Chris Rock - Bigger and Blacker

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Chris Rock follows up his 1996 hit "Bring the Pain" with another hilarious 1-hr routine. As always, Chris serves up his brutally honest opinions on the social and political nightmares we live in today. In this performance you'll find him tackling school gun violence, the plight of Native Americans, Ricky Martin, delinquent parents, racism, police brutality, incurable diseases, taxes, and a host of other issues. What makes Chris Rock so hilarious is that his commentary not only rings true but hits upon feelings and thoughts most of us have but are often afraid to express in today's "politically correct" atmosphere. Plus, Chris' naturally funny-looking physical appearance adds color to his performance. As with many other comedians, Chris Rock ends up spending a great deal of time on cliche comedian fodder such as sex and man-woman relationships. Thankfully, Chris Rock has managed to avoid tired old jokes and put hilarious new spins on these topics.

If you want intelligent comedy, this is the video for you! However, be forewarned that Chris Rock has a penchant for using the "f" word when emphasizing points, which some may find annoying after a while, and he is bound to say something that may offend someone. Nonetheless, I think that's what makes Chris Rock great and universal. Although Chris caters to an African-American audience, he ultimately has ideas that speaks to all segments of society- conservatives, liberals, white/black/asian/latino, homosexual, religious, non-religious, etc. A view that one segment of society finds appealing is bound to be held in disdain by another.

I must admit, in the past year that I've become a Chris Rock fan, I've found it difficult to watch other comedians. Few are as hard-hitting as Chris Rock. Get this video to see what I mean! While you are at it, get "Bring the Pain"- this one packs even more punch than "Bigger and Blacker".

This was just an absolute delight to watch. Chris Rock comes at you with topic after topic and always blends everything smoothly together(like the Ricky Martin livin' la vita loca and the robotusim jokes throughout the night). This is a top notch performance from a top notch comedian. Even if you're not a Chris Rock fan you must respect his work on "Bigger & Blacker". His presence on the stage is incredible and his performance is even more spectacular. Chris Rock is a very intelligent comedian that shows you a vision of the world we tend to hide or ignore. After seeing this show so many times I started to ask myself how can he remember and deliever his act so smoothly. It seems like as if Chris Rock is having a regular conversation with the crowd as he performs on stage. Chris tackles enough issues in this show to have everyone (black or white)to relate to the material in some way. There is no doubt about it, this DVD is great and if you didn't see it on HBO or home video then you need to pick up this DVD. The price on this DVD is good but the show itself is great. A Must have for true fans of comedy. ( intellectual or silly )

What makes you laugh? "Bigger and Blacker" dishes out the following:

1) Profanity -- quite a bit of it. If you laugh at the mere thought or sound of profanity, buy this DVD. But in reality, the raw language is irrelevant. Watch the intensity of the delivery and pay attention to the ideas surrounding the "bad" words.

2) Social/Political Commentary from one man's perspective -- A LOT of it.
Chris Rock, as he continually states either directly or indirectly, is a "law and order conservative" (well, mostly order!) and a "moral" liberal. His moral liberalism is a bit extreme for most people, but it is refreshingly consistent and counterbalances the traditional notion of "liberal" tolerance with the libertarian ideal of being accountable for one's actions. Oh, and by the way, there are no victims in Chris Rock's universe. If you dislike "Victim" mentality, you will find it well dismissed here.

3) Social/Racial Commentary from a black man's perspective -- There is a fair amount of this in Bigger and Blacker, but nothing earth shaking. Although he is clearly not pleased to be directly on the negative end of racial profiling, Rock typically redirects his racial commentary into larger themes (violence, hypocrisy, value systems...).

4) About Men and Women -- Who are we, together and apart? These subjects are always fertile ground for comedy. Although he attempts to soften the blows by continued professions of his love for women, Chris's take on women in general is pretty harsh, while not quite so hard, nor as detailed on men. Rock has a clear disdain for absentee fathers, but men get a pass on most of their behaviors -- behaviors that are excused as "understandable" (if not necessarily right) attempts to get around intolerable actions of women. Judging by the apparent reaction of the female members of the audience, Chris puts enough meat on the bones of his contentions to warrant serious contemplation after the laughter.

5) Physical Presence -- Energetic, intense, animated...

6) Limited Exaggerations -- Bigger and Blacker material mostly avoids "over-"exaggeration while its points are being made, and make no mistake, Chris Rock is trying to make a LOT of points (Rock's latest stand-up effort, "Never Scared" drifts more often into realm of over-exaggeration by my account, thus rendering it less enjoyable despite some great ideas).

7) Bonus Points -- A hilarious question is asked about medical science's ability (or lack thereof) to cure major diseases... An observation is given about social security's relevancy to black men... Both of these bonus points strain at the limits of exaggeration, but contain enough weight to make them worthy of an acid laugh or three...

In short, Bigger and Blacker is not light comedy. If you primarily like self- depreciating comedians, Chris Rock is not your man; If you are a diehard of the "left" or "right," he is not your man. If you prefer to believe that the world is generally rosy, he is not your man. If, on the other hand, you enjoy exceptional (almost) equal opportunity skewerings of pretenses and prejudices, it doesn't get much better than "Bigger and Blacker".

The Doug E. Fresh intro perfectly sets the mood for the frantic and energetic Chris Rock. Bigger & Blacker is an HBO production filmed in the Apollo Theater and is brilliant satire from the perspective of an African-American.

Rock lays the smack down on topics such as school violence, gun control, irresponsible parents, neglected fathers, infidelity, bigotry, and the poor state of health care. His assertions are blunt, bold, and are fired from point-blank: "A man is only as faithful as his options", "Men lie but women are much bigger liars", "Blacks and whites have little to complain about, consider the state of Native Americans".

All of Rock's material is solid and most of it is intelligent and thought-provoking. He slips into crudeness only briefly as he suggests that the blind be assigned to midgets instead of seeing-eye dogs and when he mentions his contempt for women that don't provide oral servicing. Also, he picks on white people a little, but it is not really funny like when Richard Pryor teased white people. These minor flaws are certainly not deal breakers.

Rock is providing a solid hour of comedy here. He has a superb rapport with his audience and his delivery is very good overall with only a couple instances of repeating himself or otherwise stalling as he gathers his thoughts. This is an adult show and profanity is used liberally, but not quite what I would consider gratuitously. Overall this is a very good show that all fans of standup comedy, should consider viewing. Chris Rock deserves to go home to the big piece of chicken (inside joke-watch the show).

With a Chris Rock Video; I am never disappointed. Loved it!

Rock is perhaps the sharpest stand-up working today (though Carlin is still trenchant, to say the least), and this is his peak. Crafting a well-nigh perfect performance using his pissed-off ghetto persona, Rock hits the bull's eye again and again here. His delivery is razor-sharp, the material pretty much flawless; this will still be hilarious in fifty years.

I've seen hundreds of stand-up routines; this is the only one I've watched over a dozen times. It never seems to grow old...I don't know how it's always funny, but it is. When I've got to either laugh immmediately or die of post-modern deconstructivist meta-ironic brainache, this is the pick. The cd is nowhere near as good, different takes on the same material but without the edge.

Five stars, no doubt.

Well, I cannot get enough of Mr. Rock so I took a look at this video and will be watching it a few more times in the future. Like all of Chris Rock's standup performances this one is totally brilliant. If everyone in society talked as freely about race, sex, and people as Chris Rock does then the United States would be a far better place. He is magnificently, wondrously, and electrically politically incorrect and we should appreciate him for it. Rock is far more valuable than five thousand rebellious commentators writing articles for 24 hours a day in the attempt to destroy PC. His essential theme is "people are people" even if you're Bill Clinton. That we pretend otherwise is our own pathology. Thank God for Chris Rock--at least someone has the guts to stand up and say what he wants.

Loved this dvd! His comedy is fresh, funny, and right on target. I was a big fan of Never Scared and I liked this routine just as much. As always, he's offensive but there is more than a ring of truth to what he says. Rock never fails to tell it like it is, in his unique hilarious fashion.

say what you want but you know he is right...

hilarious if you get the jokes..

This movie is FUNNY!!!!! It is Chris Rock raw and politically uncorrect. He gives us his take on Columbine and crazy white boys under 21, the Clinton-Lewinski scandal, relationships, gays in the military and pharmaceuticals. My favorite sketch is by far "Aint No Money in the Cure". The theme is that the government does not sponsor cures to diseases like AIDS or Cancer because "the money's in the medicine". He says that they'll only "fix it so that you can LIVE with it."

I find myself watching this over and over!!! I've seen Never Scared but this one is soo much better. In Never Scared, some of the jokes go a little far even for me and I'm a big fan of Chris'. In Bigger Blacker, Chris is saying things that we all say (just maybe not out loud). The comedy is more approachable and less offensive (except perhaps the segment on midgets).

Watch this and you'll find out why Chris loves fat, black women, whether men or women tell the biggest lies, why Hillary contributed to the Clinton-Lewinski scandal, why we should not blame music and movies for kids gone wild, and the truth about the government and pharmaceuticals.

Bigger Blacker is 65 minutes of fabulous fun!