Director
Beth McCarthy
Appearing
Jim Norton
DVD Release Date: October 16, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 60 Minutes
The Show
I’ll admit that this was my first introduction to Jim Norton. His name had been mentioned and heard in my brain numerous times and I have a few friends that think he is quite hilarious. Considering that my sense of humor is quite dirty and obviously morbid; taking a chance on seeing his act was not a bad chance to take. Well, it’s certainly true that Norton fulfilled my thirst for filth and morbid jokes.
Norton automatically begins his act in the gutter. He goes straight into discussing what “monster rain” actually is for those of us who aren’t familiar with the term. I for one was not, and found it barely amusing to hear what it is. Let me put it into terms that won’t offend every single reader that may peruse my reviews. “Monster rain” is the act of young boys (namely Norton himself as a child) going under the porch and getting to third base with one another. Yeah, exactly.
The first twenty minutes of Norton’s set really wasn’t doing anything for me whatsoever. After the first couple jokes, I began literally counting the number of times laughter came out of me and it wasn’t many to be honest with you. Nothing he said was amusing or even made me crack a smile. It was beginning to look as if the last forty minutes of the DVD were going to take a long time to get through.
That is until he got into current events. Norton jumps into popular culture such as Britney Spears, porn stars, and the Don Imus/Rutgers scandal. All of a sudden his act jumped up five notches in entertainment and a full ten in hilarity. Almost everything he said now was extremely funny and made a valid point. For some reason, it just seemed as if he needed the beginning third of his set to get into a groove and find what makes people laugh. If you listen at the beginning, you can tell that not even the audience seemed too amused. But current events and (ugh) his sex life really made for an entertaining remainder.
If you are offended easily then Norton’s DVD is certainly not for you. He is not afraid to touch on any topic and even step so far over the line that it disappears to him. Believe me when I mention that he acts like a twelve year old child with tourette’s syndrome because he does and he looks like it. He’s a small, bald, pasty white fellow that just can’t stop cursing. Yet when compared to the stand-up of say Bob Saget, Norton’s cursing is told in the way of interesting anecdotes and not just too actually be cursing for the whole shock value of doing it.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.66:1Anamorphic Widescreen format and looks really good. There isn’t much to be seen except a reddish background with Norton on stage, but something bothered me. When Norton stood still, all was fine. When he walked around, the entire stage appeared to shake. More so, just the background. It was very noticeable and incredibly annoying.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound which is more then adequate for a comedy stage routine. All to be heard is a little music every now and then and dialogue, so the sound format works perfectly here.
Special Features
Deleted Scenes – There are two deleted scenes dealing with topics he pretty much talked about in his show, losing weight and his sex life. Combined they’re no longer then five minutes so I’m not quite sure why they were taken out in the first place.
The Inside Pulse
Fans of Jim Norton from his stand-up or his appearances on the “Opie & Anthony” radio program will surely enjoy this DVD although I’m not sure how much of his material is repeated. As is common practice with most comedians, they will repeat a lot of their jokes during their tours or appearances and it can get stale quickly. So perhaps if you know Jim Norton and like his comedy, try a rental first. If you don’t mind vulgarity and disgusting humor, then a sure to be low price tag should sway you to pick up the DVD and enjoy a fun night of things you never thought you’d hear. Just try and make it through the first twenty minutes and you’ll be fine. If you find humor in people like Richard Simmons and are moved by shows such as 7th Heaven, then I’m willing to bet that discussion of a threesome with Ron Jeremy is not for you.
