Customer Reviews

New - The Reduced Shakespeare Company - The Complete History of America (Abridged)

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

 

 

I loved this romp through American history. The Reduced are great at riffing on a theme - and here they cover 600 years of US history in 6000 seconds, leaving no stone un-turned! It's A Prairie Home Companion, Marx Brothers, The History Channel, The Daily Show and the Three Stooges - all rolled into one! If you can see them live - GO! If you can't - buy this DVD!

Got this for Christmas and I love it. A must-see for my fellow RSC fans (and anyone else that needs a good laugh). The History of America is a quick and humorous take on the history of our nation. It's certainly more political than their Shakespeare show, but that wasn't unexpected- that's the nature of the topic. Just like their live shows, America is fast moving, occasionally slapstick-y, and makes good use of lots of fun props. I'd watch this again any day......even if I do feel kinda bad for the lady in red.

I couldn't figure out if it just wasn't written well or just not performed well. Since 2 of the 3 did the brilliant Complete Works of Shakespeare, I don't think it was the performers. And actually, the writing, in and of itself, was not bad. So what, then, made it disappointing? I'm not sure. It just seemed so flat. But if you're just trying the troupe out, I heartily recommend the Complete Works of Shakespeare, it's utterly brilliant.

I love the humor that is weaved into the historical perspective of America. It truly requires comedic genius to bring out this kind of thought while entertaining the viewer. The Reduced Shakespeare Company has outdone themselves again. DVD or live they are a always a pleasure.

The Complete History of America by the Reduced Shakespeare Company is very funny if you appreciate jokes that make you think...which I do. Although the material was slapstick at times, there are segments of the show in which the jokes stirred some great laughter. These guys come up with some extremely witty material and I am glad that I bought this after seeing their other show "The Bible-The Complete Word of God-abridged" in San Diego last year. Good stuff!

I think the Boston Herald review on the cover says it best, "It's what the Daily Show would be like if it were hosted by the Marx Brothers." You can see why this show ran in London for ten years and has also had long runs at the Kennedy Center. This AMERICA show is more satirical and edgy than their SHAKESPEARE show. It's very political which will inevitably rub some conservatives the wrong way. But unless you are humor impaired, you'll enjoy this DVD.

I saw these actors live in London, performing The Reduced Shakespeare's Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Afterwards, I immediately set out to purchase that performance on DVD. Thinking that the Complete History of America was of the same caliber, I purchased this DVD as well. It was a waste of money. There were moments of humor, but these moments were few and far between. The most humorous part actually had nothing to do with their skits, but rather occurred ad hoc as they discussed a late arrival to their performance. It was so disappointing that I could not even watch the show to the end. While I highly recommend their Complete Works of William Shakespeare, I would run from their performance of the Complete History of America. Honestly, you could not pay me to watch this again.

I am a fan of the reduced shakespeare company and they out did themselves once again. They make you look at american history in a completly different way. Great for any teacher/ professor and a great gift!

I am very disappointed in Amazon. I never received my DVD. I was charged on my credit card
and never received my merchandise. I am calling my credit card company and asking for a credit for the purcahse that I never received.

It was purchased through Day Trader. I mailed them
about this product and never received an answer.

Very bad cuatomer service.

...was after I started reading a Dave Barry book to distract myself from the video.

Having serendipitously discovered the RSC work on Shakespeare, I reserved RSC stuff from the library en masse. As it turned out, I had to abort the History of America shortly after they got to World War I.

While talking about Indians, the performers did the old "I'm a tipi. I'm a wigwam. / Settle down. You're too tense (two tents)." joke. That's fine that they decided to work a corny joke into the routine, but I think that's the joke that got the biggest applause.

They do a bit where they talk about America being indistinguishable from Nazi Germany. I suppose some people might find that hysterical, not I.

When they said Margarett Sanger was a great American woman, I decided it was out with RSC, and in with BBC performance of King Lear.

Hopefully it doesn't sound like I disliked this video just because I don't like the politics of it; it really wasn't funny.