Alex Borstein – Drop Dead Gorgeous (Stand-up Comedy Concert)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Concert: B-

 

 

Alex Borstein began on MAD TV and more than survived Catwoman when Family Guy turned out to have more than one life of its own, where she voices Lois Griffin.  With the later show a huge hit, she has taken time out to be even more outrageous in a new stand-up show called Drop Dead Gorgeous.  In it, after a warm-up act, she talks about parents, TV, goofy breakdown descriptions of female characters apparently written by men, a couple of reviews of her work in Catwoman, Rosie O’Donnell, Showgirls and other very politically incorrect items.

 

She is bold, outrageous, personable and funny.  However, it takes a while to get used to her as her, also apparent to the audience reaction since we are all so used to her voicing Lois and other characters on the show.  She is also funny with her occasional body language, facial expressions and bizarre impersonations.  Wait until you see and hear what she does to Natalie Merchant!

 

Ultimately, this is one of the smarter comedy concerts we have seen of late and proves that Borstein’s star can only rise higher and higher.  Fans will enjoy it, but it is not for children.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1 image was taped (likely in some kind of HD) and does not look bad.  It is not perfect and has some minor flaws, but is fine otherwise.  Color is consistent enough and it is just the camera following Borstein, so no problem here.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no real surrounds and does not decode that well in Pro Logic.  Extras include a stand-alone version of the closing credits song and a too-short behind-the-scenes piece of her working on Family Guy.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo