Chris Rock - Kill The Messenger

What about the best of Rock.

How does it compare to Bring the Pain ?

Well, thanks for that.

I saw it out there and was thinking about making a thread asking if it was worth it.
I'll check it out.

I turned this on while flipping through the channels and couldn't stop watching. I don't have an extensive history watching stand-up, so I can't compare it to much. I sort of have a hard time believing it's one of the best stand-up concert films ever, but it was really good.

It's not better than Bring the Pain or bigger and Blacker. It's good but I'd rank it at the bottom of all his specials but still better than anything out there.

Rock's weakest special, but still better then most comedians best.

"I hope your Picasso falls off the wall and kills your mother."

Ehhh it wasn't bad, but I really expected more from a brilliant stand up like Rock. I mean his movies are horrible but he was always one of the best stand ups. But we just get more of the same white people are racist blah blah blah.

I thought it was funny as hell. I booed--loudly--when he got started on black women though.

I really wish more comedians would return to their roots and get back into stand up. I don't know how many shitty movies Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, etc., can squeeze out.

Thought it was a step up from 'Never Scared', which I think is Rock's weakest stand-up special.

I felt like Chris Rock was reading my mind when he talked about "Jobs" and the "Time Game" and the overlong bathroom break.
I was shocked when he talked about that cause I do that shit EVERY FUCKING TIME I AM AT WORK!

I do think that Rock was being lazy when he fell back on the "a black women will only be with an Ugly white guy if her credit is bad."

That falls too much into stereotype for my taste. I would expect lazy shit (that is for a easy laugh) like that coming out of Damon Wayans.

"John McCain is so old he used to own Sidney Poitier"
Killed me.

I think this is the funniest Rock's been in damn near ten years. So gloriously Un PC. I adored the you have a right to call me a faggot bit.

Flavor Flav needs to die also was amazing.

Got this DVR'd and I finally have a chance to watch it tonight. His interview on Howard Stern last week was great.

I heard that this interview was great. Are there any copys of it online?

What did he say on Stern?

I wouldn't know where to find it online, but he was on there for about an hour. The funniest stuff was Rock riffing on Stern's upcoming marriage.

Well if you did want to find it online theres always bittorrent. I have heard rumors that you can download Stern's show everyday off that..........rumors.

Just curious, why did you loudly boo at the black women part? I don't know of any white people that boo when he rips white folks.

Because all white people are evil and racist and it's ok to make fun of them didn't you know? If your white don't dare say anything remotely bad about black people even if it's a joke got it? God can't you understand simple logic?

It was good but I love Rock's topical and racial humor way more than I've ever loved his observational humor about relationships. It's not that it's spot-on; it's just never been as sharp or unique to his comedic approach.

Watching the whole thing, I thought it was good, but I wonder if he'll ever come close to even touching "Bring The Pain" again.

I don't see that ever happening again. It's like a pitcher throwing a 2nd perfect game.

I don't know that all black women boo'd when he dissed black women, but I did. Mostly it was the Michelle Obama part, because I just don't think she needs that kind of shit--especially when you have assholes who really do believe that black women are trashy and unfit and less than their white counterparts.

By the way, you can fuck off at any time.

Very funny stuff. Like most, it's probably not as LOL funny as Bring The Pain, but I'd say its close to Bigger & Blacker, if not as funny. I love Rock's skewed take on things like politics and society, even his take on relationships. It's good to have him back on the mic.

In the interest of not starting any more shit, let's ease up people. Calm down. Great stand up, haven't seen 'Bring the Pain', but have watched 'Bigger and Blacker' more times than I can remember. This is almost its equal, but only because it feels a little like a decent sequel to B&B.

I'll take the position that I like Rock's relationship humor more than his racial stuff. It smacks of gloriously un-PC and he gives it to each gender like none other can. I love his delivery.

Also, the cutting between cities was flawless. It threw me off the first time it happened. Well done.

Add: loved the whole 'don't schedule no black shit on Nov. 5 if Barack Obama wins'.

I don't think comedians are meant to be taken so seriously, sometimes they just say shit to be funny (which it was) or push boundaries by saying shit no one else can. I enjoyed the bit about Michelle Obama, especially when he recognized how pissed off black women get when he starts talking about it. But to think he was being serious is kind of stupid.

I really liked the way the shows were edited together too. Not my favorite Chris Rock standup, but it's not bad by any means.

Good, but not as many gut laughs as I usually associate with a Rock special. But I'm weird, because my favorite is Never Scared. I wanted more politics or pop culture stuff and less difference between black/white men/women.

"I just don't think she needs that kind of shit." Well, I don't think alot of people "need (the) kind of shit" that comedians level at them, so what makes Michelle Obama different?

There are racist assholes everywhere, but expecting a comedian to write their bits so they don't give idiot racists things to "believe" is moronic.

Yep. It was a stand-up bit, plain and simple.

Ms. Sugarbaker, if you keep it up, I'm going to owe you like 5,000 drinks by the end of the year. Have some pity on my bank account, willya?

I'll just take one of those custard things you mentioned in the food thread, either Mint Oreo or Kit-Kat. Thanks!

I thought it was poorly directed. Really, the cuts between cities were a little annoying.

I thought the show overall was funny, but I really would have loved to see him do a whole political show.

I wasn't a fan of the multiple cities aspect either. It got distracting to me, to see them cut to different cities for the same line. The show loses a little bit of flow when you do that, in my opinion.

It's an interesting concept, showing that people laugh at the same jokes all over the world. I personally liked the implementation, but I can see how some people could view it as distracting.

That cross-cutting didn't bother me because Chris Rock likes to draw out his punchlines by repeating lines for tempo and effect.

I liked it, but I also found the cross-cutting distracting. It might just be me, but I hate the idea of "I tell these jokes everywhere" being so in your face. I mean, we know they do, but still...it's the illusion I kind of enjoy.

However, the point about it appealing in all three locations is an interesting one...

Huh, I thought it was more about the evolution of a comedy routine. Taking the best bits from the different locales, the best of the riffs.

By the time any comedian is filming a special they've worked out the routine, the special is giving you the polished ironed out routine. I thought it was interesting to see how much he had it fleshed out that you could synch them up, and how universal it seemed to play.

This was definitely his weakest stand up. I was bored through most of it - particularly the relationships stuff. It's not that I don't like his relationship humor, but that he's done it better already. The stuff he talked about in this special seems like a step backwards.

The bits that killed were his political humor. He's always been aces with stuff. When he described the four black people in his neighborhood compared to his white neighbors, truer words couldn't have been spoken. Black artists at the top of their game vs. a dentist? Sad really.

Also, his bit about dropping out of school and jobs. vs. careers. Seriously, anyone - Black or White- who's been in a shitty, minimum wage job not as a teenager just making spending money, but as a grown adult who can't get anything better... you can empathize.

Lastly, I found the cutting back and forth annoying, more than distracting. It didn't add anything to the show and just prolonged the punchline by having him repeat the same thing over and over (which to be fair he does anyways for effect). I just didn't care for it.

Rock said it himself best. It's just plain mean. If you are in the privileged position, picking on someone in a lower status group is fucked up. Everything he says about black women (in all of his specials) is generally negative and promotes stereotypes of loud, aggressive, gold-digging bitches. Enough already. At least with his other topics, he goes after everyone.

Holy shit. I whole-heartedly agree with Diva.

I think it killed the impact of his act because you are constantly reminded that it is in fact a routine that he could do in his sleep. A part of stand-up comedy is false spontaneity, and when they cut from one location to another and you see that Rock has it down to a ridiculous level it takes a way a bit of the... specialness (?).

I wasn't quite sure how to end that thought.

I actually thought this was the best directed of the Rock specials. The director understood that a large part of stand-up is in the performance, the theatricality of it, and that's one of Rock's gifts. As much as I didn't care for large portions of the "faggot" routine, the way he switched back and forth from his narration to him in the story singing Gwen Stefani was pretty impressive. The punchline to this bit was great, though, and I loved his "when white people can use the N word" bit, as I was just talking about the same thing to a friend the other day. (The Dr. Dre rule and the "context matters" thing.)

I'm in the small, insane minority that likes Bigger & Blacker more than Bring the Pain (maybe because I wasn't aware of Rock in '96 and didn't hear the full routine until recently...when I'd already read it a dozen times in Rock This), but I thought this was definitely a weak special overall for him. My memory of Never Scared is that's pretty fucking funny, but I thought Rock's relationship stuff was weaker than it usually is.

Finally got around to watching this. Maybe not as strong as Pain or Blacker but he still made me laugh quite a bit. It's good that he does one of these every few years to help remind everyone that he's more than just a man who appears in awful movies.

Most of the relationship material worked for me. "This is passport pussy." Great joke to close too.

I can't believe he devoted so much time to a joke about how time drags when you're at work. That's Chuckle Hut material.

You just don't get it, Bob. Why don't you go watch some old Robert Klein special.

His insight on the singles bar scene is SCATHING!

I can't stop my leg- HILARIOUS!

I saw Klein do a routine about Bunion surgery once.

As a white boy who's listened to rap since childhood, this bit made me laugh the hardest. He nailed it. And I don't care how old the "time at work" bit is; it sure as hell got some laughs out of me.