Chris Rock - Never Scared

Apparently, 80 minutes proved to be way too much time for Chris Rock. His first was the best at 56 minutes. The second special was not as good but still great at 65. Then he gives us this. Eighty minutes of ZZZzzzzzzzz. I love Chris Rocks style of comedy. His in your face, but not aimed AT YOUR face profanity and unique delivery has made him the blueprint for other stand up comics. (Notice how comedy central stand up specials sound more and more like CR shows?). Now, after the high standard that he set for himself, It wouldnt be a surprise if he slips a little bit. Maybe another Bigger and blacker. I mean, how does one top Bring the pain? Now adoring Chris Rock so much actually made it painful to see him perform Never scared. Watching him tell his jokes in front of a yawning Washington crowd reminded me of the time Tyson got knocked out by Buster Douglas. Just when you thought the guy was invincible, he ends up picking up his mouth-piece from the ring. I felt sorry for the man as he went through his routine. If this was some unknown comic you were watching in an old New York basement you might find this routine decent. But no! C.R. is stand up royalty and what he put on this disc just aint worthy of him. There were some portions that were still reminiscent of his old self. The mock the celebrities and Nelson Mandela part was pretty hilarious. Everything else is filler. And Im talking about wasted tape (wasted disc space if you bought the DVD). Now Im asian. It shouldnt bother me that he makes fun of white people. Hell, I laughed my ass off of his white-black jokes on his first two shows. But the way he spit it out on Never scared is just disgusting. Its disgusting how he reffered to the NFL blacks as descendants of negro super-slaves. Its disgusting how he talked about how only the white man can profit from pain. Its freakin disgusting when he started to explain why we shouldnt fear Al Quaeda when he asked the crowd did Al-Quaeda put Anthrax in your mail...no! did Al-Quaeda blow up the building in Oklahoma...no! He sounds like a black Adolf Hitler preaching about the evil things that white people do. I wouldnt be surprised if Osama cut clips from this show for his next anti-US propaganda video.There are more claps than laughs from the crowd and thats bad if youre a stand-up comic. I hope this is not a preview of things to come.

Although nothing could be as funny as Bring the Pain. Chris Rock doesnt let his fans down with Never Scared. He IS the funniest man in America!

I love this comedy special

Chris Rock seems to be following Pryors career arc: a dynamic, revelatory first concert follwed by a succession of increasingly weaker and less magical ones. Dont get me wrong, hes still the best out there, still vital and still an important artist. Its just that his sets are becoming looser and less focused, robbing his top-flight writing of some of its impact. For example, the first 30 minutes or so are a bit of a drag as he skewers troubled celebrities who have already had quite enough of it ( Who hasnt made fun of O.J. by now? ). He also gets caught up in his own words a bit e.g. Michael Jackson...Michael Jackson...Michael Jackson!... ( alright, I hear ya, now what? ) which eats up time and slows down the flow. What saves him and this concert are his prickly intelligence and his ferocious indignation at societys constraints, hypocrasies, and double-standards. When he gets down to his views on politics, race, and relationships, thats when he finally starts to fire on all cylinders and remind us why hes #1. Toward the end, he starts to remind me of George Carlins recent work ( You Are All Diseased for instance, because of his similar angry take on a society gone mad ), which is a good thing since Carlin is still vibrant while sadly, Pryor isnt. Everything considered, despite the flaws, this is essential viewing and tasty brainfood for the angry philosopher.

Now its just my opinion, but whilst reading others reviews for Never Scared, I couldnt help but notice how everybody that gave lower ratings to this release spent a lot of time comparing it to his prior stand ups. I would just like to point out that if Chris Rock kept doing stand ups that were mirror images of Bring The Pain, and Bigger and Blacker, that his routine would quickly become redundant and old. Ill be the first to admit that I dont especially enjoy Never Scared as much as BTP and B&B, but by no means is it a disappointment. People can rant and rave all they want about how its not vintage Chris Rock, and its not as in your face. Personally, I think hes still very in your face, and though the issues he elaborates on may have become more serious and political, its still very much Chris Rock. For the DVD itself, I consider it well above average. Chris Rock definitely hasnt lost his ability to point out the obvious while still managing to make people look stupid. He speaks of many current issues, such as the Michael Jackson case, Janet Jackson, Kobe Bryant, George Bush and the war in Iraq, and much more. And like his prior two specials, he ends it with a completely hilarious segment on relationships and women, that will surely make men laugh their behind off (and many women too) , and shake their head in agreement at the same time. All in all, despite this being the weaker of his stand-ups, its still an above average special, and still quite worthy of adding to your Chris Rock collection. 8.5/10.

An excellent stand-up from my favorite Comedian working today.

I like movie

Made over a decade before The slap Heard Round the World this features insights into The Jackson Family High Jenks, Gentlemans Clubs, rap music, R. Kelly, Iraq War, drugs, and WEALTH! Occasional insight and humor, swearing and adult content.

Hilarious!

One of his best specials in my opinion. Cant go wrong with Chris Rock.