The Best Of Comedy Central Presents Uncensored DVD Review

The Best of Comedy Central Presents Uncensored features eight episodes of the Comedy Central Presents stand-up comedy television show. One of the corner stones of Comedy Central has always been its televising of up and coming stand-up comedy acts. This DVD is just a small cross hashing of that series featuring some of the biggest and most successful comedians of today. Comedians featured include Lewis Black, Dane Cook, Jim Gaffigan, Jeff Dunham, Mitch Hedberg, Demitri Martin, Brian Regan, and Carlos Mencia.

Each of these episodes has a 20-minute run-time, but is plagued by Comedy Central graphics that originally book-ended the commercial breaks. The biggest complaint regarding the DVD is that the bulk of these episodes are painfully dated; several of the comedians were still looking for their angles. Also, some of these acts have previously been released as part of a longer version. Lewis Black’s episode, for example, is a part of the longer DVD Lewis Black: Unleashed.

Several of the acts featured have gone on to great success. Dane Cook has gone on to star in several films including Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck. A favorite among college students, Dane Cook has also since released a couple of CDs, released his act on DVD, and created his own HBO television show. Dane’s comedy generally consists of him retelling amusing stories and abbreviating words in a comedic manner.

Jeff Dunham is a ventriloquist whose act has received a great deal of attention recently as one section of his act has become a favorite to email and forward along. This heavily shared clip features Jeff on stage talking to one of his many marionettes, Ahmed the Dead Terrorist. Jeff and a skeleton wearing a turban discuss life as a terrorist. During the bit, Jeff actually alerts Ahmed that he is in fact dead. Ahmed quickly realizes that he has died as a result of premature detonation.

Lewis Black, a regular on the Daily Show, has also had a great deal of success starring in several television shows and movies. However, his episode, being a snippet from a longer special, is a disappointment. It is a great deal funnier in its longer version, Lewis Black: Unleashed, also presented by Comedy Central.

Jim Gaffigan has found success in both television and film. Most will recognize him as the guy who is meowed at by the highway patrol in Super Troopers. He is also the creator of the Pale Force: an animated series featuring Jim Gaffigan and Conan O’Brien as pasty crime fighters. Gaffigan has most recently been on the TBS series My Boys, playing PJ’s older brother. Jim’s show consists of him doing his act while interjecting the point of view of the absolute worst audience member possible.

The late, great Mitch Hedberg is most famous for his dead-pan one liners about observational humor. He tended to be rather self-deprecating, often stating that a joke was no good or that it would be replaced via the magic of editing.

This compilation DVD is worth owning, especially for fans of Mitch Hedberg, and is a good way of getting acquainted with new comedians such as Demitri Martin and Jeff Dunham, probably the most unknown of the acts.