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Chris Rock - Never Scared  Hot
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Written by Dave Anderson   
Tuesday, 18 January 2005


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Chris Rock - Never Scared

Grade

Content Grade: B
Sound Grade: A
Extras Grade: B
Picture Grade: A

Specs

HBO Video 4:3 Fullscreen English 5.0 Dolby Surround; English 2.0 Dolby Surround Closed Captioned 91 min., color, 2004 Not Rated - contains strong language

Review

Chris Rock is probably the best black comedian since Richard Pryor. He seldom reaches such hilarious (sometimes menacing) heights, but Rock's brand of observational humor comes a lot closer to classic Pryor than, say, Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence (the latter whose popularity is still a mystery to me). Rock's fourth HBO special, Never Scared , isn't as consistent as some of his earlier work, but there's enough laughs here to please his fans, with the great added bonus of his first half-hour HBO special.
This special recently was shot in Washington D.C. (I seem to get a lot of comedy discs filmed there), and features 15 minutes not included in the original HBO special (I never saw the original program, so I couldn't tell you what's new and what isn't). Like many stand-up discs, this is a hit-or-miss affair. Rock seems to take awhile to find his stride, sometimes struggling to be heard over the screaming yahoos in the audience, but these early bits are still punctuated by some laugh-out-loud lines ("If you're a father, and your daughter grows up to be a stripper...you f**ked up"). Much of the middle portion of the disc consists of Rock's takes on rap, black celebrities in the news, and/or current issues like war & affirmative action. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it isn't (Michael Jackson is an awful easy target for ridicule, and to make jokes about him is about as old as cop & doughnut jokes). However, when Rock starts ranting about sex, relationships and marriage (roughly the last twenty minutes), he's absolutely hilarious, and right on target. Here it doesn't matter if you're black, white or green...he's talking about every married couple in the world with hilariously true insight (as well as personal anecdotes just about anyone watching will attest to); it's easily the best part of the performance.

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Picture and Sound

HBO has done a nice job with the transfer of this program to DVD. It looks as good as it did when it first premiered, and the sound, rendered in both 5.0 and 2.0 Dolby Surround, is equally impressive.

Extras

Aside from the extras 15 minutes of content added to Never Scared, Rock's first HBO special, Big Ass Jokes , is offered in its entirety. It isn't quite as funny as much of his later work, but it is interesting as a document to demonstrate the humble beginnings of the comic he would mature into.

Summary

I don't think is Never Scared is worthy of the repeat viewings Richard Pryor's early concert films are, but there's a lot of laughs here, particularly in the latter part of the show. Die hard fans will love it, of course, and casual fans will dig some fun out of this disc with a little patience.

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