Dave Attell: Captain Miserable – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Director

Beth McCarthy-Miller

Appearing

Dave Attell

DVD Release Date: December 11, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 52 Minutes

The Show

Insomniac was and is one of the best shows I ever saw on Comedy Central landing right near the top with The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and the first couple years of South Park. Dave Attell was the host and went all over the country seeing what people did while most of the United States was asleep. He went to different clubs, hung out with the cops and weirdos, and tried some famous little hole in the wall eateries that party-goers hit up for late night drunken munchies. He was hilarious on that show and maybe it was because he had someone to play off of, I don’t know for sure. Seeing him go straight after comedy and doing his stand-up routine had to be even better right? Not so fast my friend.

Attell’s set consists of him discussing anything and everything that comes to his mind. He never really stays on one topic very long even when telling a story. For instance he shares with the crowd the time he went over and performed for the troops, but that bit last all of three minutes before he was onto something else. Not that there is anything wrong with multiple topics, but it doesn’t give him a chance to really set up any jokes. One fault I found with his set is that the punchlines came way too quickly for my liking. He wasn’t even beginning to tell us about something before the big finish was already there. Kept things kind of frustrating and lackluster.

There was one repeating pattern in his almost hour long set though and it was alcohol. If there was a way he could slip in talking about drinking, being drunk, or alcoholism then you can rest easy knowing Dave Attell was right on top of it. That shouldn’t surprise you too much if you ever watched Insomniac. But speaking of his alcohol related humor; it also got to be quite annoying. At the beginning of the show, he talks a little bit about Jaegermeister and how much it can really mess a person up if they drink it. He then goes on about how there are no commercials for it, so he created a few. Attell would describe a scene for the commercial and then end it up saying “Jaeger” in a really deep voice. Quite funny. The first thirty times that is. As most comedians do, he came back to that punchline later on his act as it related to a situation. The thing is, he did it every few minutes so it began to get really old and not even fit in anymore.

Attell is a foul-mouthed comedian who is all over the place with the things he wishes to talk about. The obscenities didn’t bother me. His constant laughing at his own material was something I could look past. And I was even able to get past his not so funny stuff at times, but I couldn’t stop thinking of how much he reminded me of a comedian from the eighties. With every round of applause he got, he’d tell the crowd “you guys are great.” If he had something he wanted to talk about, he’d ask the crowd “you guys ready to hear it? Do you want to?” It just seemed so out of place and awkward. This is obviously not the same, tired, pissed off, surly person I used to watch on one of my favorite late night shows. Captain Miserable is certainly not a title that belongs on a stand-up DVD consisting of someone smiling their face off for an hour.

The Video

The show is presented in 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen format and looks good with the audience sitting in a red-lit room as Attell stands on a stage with a nice blue background.

The Audio

The show is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and for something that is nothing but dialogue, laughter, and an opening and closing them; it didn’t need any more then that. Still, all sounds well.

Special Features

Deleted Scenes – There are ten deleted scenes where he talks about vibrators, gay marriage, hybrid cars, and Dog The Bounty Hunter. Meh.

Dave Pollutes A Music Festival – Attell attends the Bonaroo Music Festival in Tennessee and does a bit of stand-up. The rest of the time he is simply taking in the festival and even meets up with comedian Lewis Black. Attell should take lessons. This feature lasts just under three minutes.

Dave’s Middle East Tour – In the main bit, Attell talks about performing for the troops and this is five and a half minutes of handheld camera footage of him hanging out, going on a chopper ride, and just a little bit from different soldiers.

Dave’s Booze Cruise – The Comedy Cellar’s annual boat ride brings a bunch of comedians together and takes them out on a boat. Keith Robinson, Kurt Metzger, and a lot of other comedians talk to Attell and laugh it up in this four minute bit.

The Inside Pulse

Most comedians start out doing stand-up and eventually move onto something else if they are lucky enough. You know, they get their own special, television show, or move onto films. A lot of them continue to do stand-up for special occasions or in their downtime from their bigger success. Dave Attell started in stand-up, moved to his own show, and then went back into stand-up. I’ll tell you now that he should have tried a lot harder to keep Insomniac on the air or found something else to do because the stand-up gig isn’t working anymore. There are some laughs every now and then, but hardly any in an almost hour long set. The special features are simply more of the same and nothing worth watching. Pick this DVD up and “Captain Miserable” will refer to all those watching it instead of the star.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Dave Attell: Captain Miserable
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE SHOW

4
THE VIDEO

8
THE AUDIO

8
THE EXTRAS

2
REPLAY VALUE

2
OVERALL
2.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)