Doug Stanhope – No Refunds

Doug Stanhope certainly is an original stand-up comic and his hour-long stand-up comedy DVD  No Refunds proves it. The show was filmed at the Gotham Comedy Club. Stanhope is as close to the audience as a comic can possibly get and the cameras are as close to Stanhope as possible; all this makes his angry observational comedy that much more powerful and funny.

Stanhope is an angry nihilist and though there are a few of those in the world of stand-up comedy, his anger is of a different kind and aimed at a different target. The opening bit on how we are all voluntarily numbing ourselves through prescription drugs like Zoloft and Wellbutrin just so we can be more productive is funny and accurate. As the comic points out, companies never test for drugs that will make you less productive, do they?

This bit alone, and his ripping the next generation a new one, make No Refunds a must see experience for fans of edgy stand-up comedy.

A sociologist could easily write a thesis off of Doug Stanhope’s premise that religion and government control the daily allowed dose of pussy and this is why women will never be totally equal to men. This is another solid routine in this show.

Less interesting are the first few minutes in the bit about Jew bashing and how it all started at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This is in part because this comedy routine is on the rambling side. When Stanhope focuses on what he is trying to say, the routine becomes a dead on take of society.

Other good bits on No Refunds include the routine on celebrities dying young or “before their time” and the immigration bit. This cut should be played to all the rednecks down south and is one of the best stand-up comedy routines on the topic.

The most controversial routine here is the bit on pedophiles on the internet. This is dark stand-up comedy like no one else dares doing. It gets even more over the edge after that.

Doug Stanhope – No Refunds: you will not want a refund

No Refunds
Doug Stanhope
Stand-up Comedy DVD
Image Entertainment 2007
70 minutes

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