Product Details

• Actors: Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Samantha MacIvor, Tyler Gates
• Directors: Jason Woliner
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MTV
• DVD Release Date: March 4, 2008
• Run Time: 160 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001053088
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,079 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Television > TV Series By Letter > H > Human Giant

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Sketch comedy troupe Human Giant aim for a sweet spot somewhere between the freewheeling absurdity of Mr. Show and the slacker/frat boy comedy of Dane Cook. The trio of Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer create sketches ranging from recurring bits like Shutterbugs (a hard-driving talent agency for child actors) and the Illusionators (two magicians who can do real magic but have such low-self esteem that they only raise the dead to make their card tricks truly impressive) to stand-alone bits like a drug-addicted genie or an attack-dog service designed to gain sympathy for the victims. Some satirical targets--like extreme sports or The Exorcist--are pretty tired, but others sketches have a true spark; for example, Space Lords, in which a super-powered alien intent on taking over the Earth falls in love with a terrestrial girl (Mary Lynn Rajskub of 24) and falls over himself to make her happy. Human Giant don't compare well to their idols--there's something formulaic and lazy about most of their humor--but they've clearly found an audience. Human Giant: The Complete First Season contains eight 20-minute episodes. But for true fans of the show, the glories of this dvd set may be on the second disc, which contains excerpts from the marathon when Human Giant was given free reign over MTV for 24 hours and did pretty much anything that came into their heads, occasionally punctuated by musical acts like the National. Other bonus features include rambling commentaries (some episodes have two), footage from early live performances, a few deleted scenes, and some oddball things like phony dedications to dead crew members and the repeated takes from a child actor who had to say one short line in an early sketch. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description
A collection of recklessly hilarious, fast-paced, hard-hitting short films, Human Giant brings viewers innovative comedy with a distinctive style and direction. First seen online, short clips like "Shutterbugs" and "The Illusionators" have gained a huge cult following. Human Giant has also gained a large audience in the New York comedy club scene through live shows at the underground club Upright Citizens Brigade.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Television. , April 27, 2008

By	Aziz Ansari - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hi,

I'm Aziz Ansari, one of the creators and stars of Human Giant and I can't recommend this show enough. Unfortunately, the Amazon editorial review is the only bad review of this DVD I've really seen. Don't listen to Bret Fetzer. He went to elementary school with me and I remember him being pretty racist.

Here's our A- minus review from The Onion AV Club.


Human Giant: Season One (MTV)

Reviewed by Nathan Rabin
March 5th, 2008

Fans like to bemoan the premature deaths of Mr. Show and Arrested Development, but both enjoyed substantial runs and left behind a lasting cultural legacy. A direct line can be drawn between the cult shows of the very recent past and the cult shows of today. Arrested Development found a worthy heir in 30 Rock, while the terrific sketch-comedy show Human Giant serves as a vital link between Mr. Show and the current generation of web-weaned funnymen who made their names posting homemade videos online instead of working their way through Second City, The Groundlings, or Saturday Night Live. The show's central dynamic echoes Mr. Show as well. Like Bob Odenkirk, Rob Huebel boasts the bland good looks of a local TV news anchor, yet there's a spark of madness and rage at his core. Castmates Paul Scheer and Aziz Ansari, meanwhile, take turns inhabiting the David Cross role.

Unlike Mr. Show, Human Giant isn't averse to recurring characters. Popular bits like "The Illusionators" (a pair of David Blaine/Criss Angel-like magical douchebags who are alternately astonishingly lamely mundane and genuinely magical) and "The Shutterbugs" (about intense, hyper-profane children's agents who become the brain trust behind the notorious flop Li'l 9/11) prove that in spite of what decades of Saturday Night Live suggest, the phrase "funny recurring character" doesn't have to be an oxymoron.

Like The Ben Stiller Show before it, Human Giant earns its MTV pedigree by being the kind of hip rock 'n' roll show where guest appearances by Ted Leo or Ghostface Killah are par for the course. In fact, Human Giant may be the only hip rock 'n' roll show left on MTV. The half-hour format suits its short, punchy aesthetic perfectly, but it's fascinating watching more than an hour's worth of excerpts from a 24-hour marathon where the cast of Human Giant and a gaudy procession of big-name guest stars (including Odenkirk) took over MTV and MTV2 for an entire day. It's a testament to the show's addictiveness that the excerpts leave audiences hungry for more. Given Human Giant's web-friendliness, it's also fitting that the full 24 hours can probably be found somewhere online.

Key features: Hilarious deleted scenes, live footage, a preview of season two, and amusing audio commentaries from the cast and selected guest stars.

A.V. Club Rating: A-

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Sketch Show on Television. Period., April 27, 2008

By	Joe Levine - See all my reviews

Sketch comedy hasn't been this brilliantly absurd since the Upright Citizens Brigade. Maybe the only sketch show that develops their recurring characters with each appearance rather than relying on the same jokes each time. Comparisons to "Mr. Show" is a little unfair as they have almost nothing in common besides being sketch shows, but that doesn't take away from the show's quality, it's definitely head and shoulders above any other sketch show on television today.

Bret Fetzer is a dick.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fetzer-Proof!, April 27, 2008

By	Aaron Nevins (Somers Point, NJ) - See all my reviews

If there was any doubt that sketch comedy shows could work in the new millennium, Human Giant disproves it. I can only assume MTV was skeptical when these three hilarious young comedians came to them with their mission statement to make a comedy program accessible to everyone except Amazon.com's own Bret Fetzer, but their investment paid off and the results are top-notch.

Buy this DVD and prepare yourself for hours of entertainment.