 [Larger view] | Chris Rock - Bring The Pain
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 A hilarious stand-up comic's view of life. | |
Chris Rock's special "Bring the Pain" is an entertaining and hysterical take on life. His use of comical analogies and off-beat observations establishes him as one of the funniest stand-up comedians of his time. His recent Emmy award for this video skyrocketed his popularity and he now enjoys a greater portion of the public eye. His HBO show, "The Chris Rock Show", also a well deserved hit, shows this comic's brilliance. This special not only entertained me, but made me laugh so hard I cried. Chris Rock's stand-up comedy is well worth the price because his hilarity is gargantuan compared to the other comedians of today. END | |
| This WILL be a classic. | |
| I have never laughed so hard in my life... I laughed so hard I thought I was going to hurt myself. Every time I watch this I laugh out loud--even when I'm alone! You know, usually, once you know the jokes, things stop being so funny, but this NEVER stops being funny. You find yourself quoting Chris Rock in certain conversations, even making the facial expressions and the accent. His intelligent, and yet hilarious commentaries are always SO relevant with what's going on in the world. Chris Rock is the new funniest man alive! See also, Bigger and Blacker (now available). It's not quite as funny as this one, but still the same... (Warning, for those of you not familiar: he does use 4-letter words, so if that offends you, then don't watch. However, he really knows *how* to use them, so you might get an education ;o) | |
 Chris Rock, black conservative leader? | |
| I've been hoping to get my hands on a copy of "Bring The Pain" ever since college, when my friends and I would occasionally sit around getting drunk and listening to this performance on CD. Well, I finally have it, and even as a married man watching it sober in my apartment this DVD still cracks me up. Since this performance was recorded in the mid-'90's and it's now 2004 I was worried the material might seem dated, but Rock's insightful and colorful discussions of human failings are not only universal, but timeless. Much of what he discusses here may not be in the news anymore, but you could substitute any number of current happenings and his remarks would fit just as well. The man's animated style and frequent use of profanity are certanly entertaining, but beneath the shouted profanities is a razor-sharp wit backed by a lot of common sense and deep feel for irony. With his knack for cutting through rhetoric and hyprocrisy to get at the underlying truth, Rock could even be called one of America's leading black conservatives. Rock bursts out of the gate with a bitingly hilarious bit on Marion Barry, musing that Barry managed to get reelected as mayor of Washington after being convicted of behavior that would get you fired from McDonald's. Discussing a slightly more respectable figure in the form of Colin Powell, Rock highlights the low expectations whites hold for blacks by pointing out that an educated black general can be praised merely for speaking well. This being the mid-90's, there was the obligatory bit on O.J., but Rock manages to go deeper than most comics in analyzing what the case said about the nature of fame and America's racial divide. The real high point of the performance, though, is Chris's discussion of the divisions within black America itself, exemplified by the distinction he draws between black people and, well, a word I can't use on this site. At any rate, Rock's penetrating look at this country's black underclass and its pathologies is hilarious, thought-provoking, and deadly accurate at the same time. There a few more good bits here, including an off-color riff on platonic friendship, but it's Rock's look at racial issues that makes this DVD for me. He may occasionally drive home his points crudely, but Rock also advocates old-fashioned ideas like responsibility and self-respect which are all too lacking today, black or white. A true equal-opportunity offender, Rock deserves a shot from all thinking people. |
