Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Very, very funny
Robin Williams might be one of the most brilliant comedic minds of the past 25 years. This is one of his first live solo shows in a long time, and it's wickedly funny. It also includes an easter egg that I'll detail at the end of the review.Williams takes to a Broadway stage and talks about everything from the Olympics to prostate exams to President Bush. He does it in his own manic way, hardly stopping to take a breath and producing a gallon of sweat in the process. He is absolutely hysterical to watch, using nothing but water bottles for props. The special features feature backstage footage of Robin before the show and an interview done by the director. You see that Robin is as insane off-stage as he is on. A fair warning though: this is not for those of you who are easily offended or for kids. He talks, very graphically, about sex and body parts, and he also curses about every five seconds. Which brings me to the Easter Egg. It's a montage of every swear word he says in the broadcast. It almost develops a hip-hop rhythm after awhile. To access it, go to the "Bonus Features" area and go down to "Resume". Press right and it should highlight a "Parental Advisory" logo. Hit enter and you're in. If you're looking for something funny and a bit naughty, this is definitely an entertaining thing to show to friends or to just watch on your own.
Rating: - The King of Comedy Raw and Sweaty!
Robin Williams' laugh-riot HBO Special is a no-holds-barred comedy classic and a fitting document of the greatest funnyman of our generation. A master of fast and furious storytelling and 3-dimensional characters, Williams' genius is on full display for nearly two hours. The comedian's charm is evident - he leaps from joke to joke, each bit infused with warmth, irony and his now-trademark stream-of-consciousness dialogue. He draws on contemporary themes and hits every punchline like a concert pianist at the peak of his form. Never before has Williams been so accessible or hysterical and this special guarantees unlimited guffaws and side-splitting routines. He's sweaty and raunchy, childlike and mature all at once. Parents may want to save this DVD for personal viewing, since some bits are drenched in wicked adult humor, though Williams never offends - he gives his all and succeeds. Best of all, the Broadway event gets better on repeat viewings (rare as that is for comedy)so that like Lucille Ball before him (think grape-stomping, vitavitavegimin and chocolate assembly lines) the bits he delivers renew themselves time and time again. If laughter is lacking in your life, do yourself a favor and spend two hours with the Oscar-winning master of comedy.
Rating: - Frickin' Hilarious
I first saw the tail end of Robin's Broadway show on HBO and laughed till I was crying, and I was absolutely thrilled when they put his show on DVD. It is an excellent purchase if you enjoy Williams' quirky, loud, and animated humor.His show, which runs over two hours and has very, very few parts that aren't funny, captures the full range of his comic abilities. You get to see Robin impersonate a monkey, a sexually frustrated ape, a little boy, George Bush, an Afghan trying to call a jihad with a mouth full of peanut butter, a drunken Scotsman, a stoner, a drunkard, and a patient recovering from a colonoscopy. His talent for improvising is obvious a few times throughout the show, most notably when he trips over his own tongue and still manages to turn his bungled words into a hysterical joke. Aside from the show--which any Robin Williams or comedy fan will enjoy--the DVD contains a few amusing extras, most notably a special feature called "noises." This tidbit captures all of the various noises that Robin makes throughout his two hour show and condenses them into about five minutes. Needless to say, this is the funniest thing on the DVD. Also included is an interview with the director of the show. This has its funny moments and sheds some interesting light onto how the show was produced (it actually didn't start out how it was intended to), and gives us a glimpse of Robin off the stage, but it is cut short, making it a relatively boring special feature after you've seen it once ("noises," on the contrary, can be viewed indefinitely). The producers of the DVD also included a five minute clip of Robin cracking jokes in the minutes before he was to go onstage. It gives us another glimpse of just how funny he can be without rehearsed jokes, but it falls short of greatness and can only be viewed once or twice. In short, if you enjoy the energetic style of comedy that Robin Williams exudes, or if you just want to laugh out loud about the absurdity of contemporary events, don't hesitate to add this to your collection. For a more intellectual and original show, however, I highly recommend Eddie Izzard's "Dress To Kill." (90/100)
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