Greg Giraldo – Midlife Vices (Comedy Central DVD) + Jim Jeffries – I Swear To God (HBO DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+/D     Concerts: C+

 

 

The stand-up comedy specials continue to roll out on DVD and this time, the latest two are better than usual.  There is Comedy Central Roast fixture Greg Giraldo, who turns out to be funnier than just a hatchet man in Midlife Vices, a recent show where he also proves to be able to talk well, connect to the audience and suddenly turns out to be more likable as a result.

 

Jim Jeffries comes from Australia and appeared on an episode of Down & Dirty with Jim Norton (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and is good at playing the outsider but relies even more on a laidback perspective that allows his boldness to be funnier.  He too offers a show that is a pleasant surprise and the most politically incorrect thing here is that he keeps drinking beer throughout his performance.

 

Though I had no huge laughs, both shows were entertaining, smart and the jokes were actually funny unlike more than a few of these shows I have had to suffer through.  After weighing both, I could not choose one over the other, so comedy fans will want to give both a look.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both are a little soft and likely tradedowns from 1080i HD taping.  Color is good and the sources are not too problematic, though there is some motion blur in both cases.  Both also have Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that is good, but nothing spectacular, nor does it need to be.  The combinations are just fine for this format.  Only the Giraldo DVD has extras, which turn out to be two earlier full-length shows.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo