Frankie Boyle Live

DVD review

Viewers of Mock The Week will know what to expect from Frankie Boyle’s debut DVD, both in terms of his sensitivities (or lack thereof) and his material, given that quite a few gags from the panel show have made their way into his live show. The topical nature of his telly work means there’s much here that’s been taken from the headlines of the last year or two. Sometimes there’s a point behind his jokes – such as the folly of Asbos or ID cards – but more often than not they are just good, and almost unfailingly mean, gags. Boyle is not the sort of comedian who’s desperate for you to love him, and his hard-edged material could keep Daily Mail leader writers furious for a decade. It’s uncompromising because Boyle’s no-nonsense approach always cuts to the chase, finding the most direct route to the punchline, no matter how brutal it sounds. No endearing banter cushions the audience from the full force of the jokes, but the ruthless efficiency does mean the gags hit home with force. His frequent chats to the audience show the same lack of warmth; he doesn’t so much banter with them as dismiss their worthless lives with a stream of withering putdowns. No one quite does bitter disdain like this mordant Glaswegian.
Sample joke:‘Does anyone else think that Camilla is almost exactly what Diana would have looked like had she survived the crash?’

Extras: Fuck You Scotland: 23-minute tour film, looks like it’s shot on the cheapest cameraphone going. Rush Hour sketches: Eight minutes from the BBC Three series in which Boyle played an insensitive roadside assistance mechanic. Drug Experiment. Frankie and three other comics take herbal highs and talk nonsense for an hour. You’d have to be a fairly hardcore fan to want to want to sit through this.
Recorded at : Hackney Empire, London	To buy:
Main show running time: 91 mins
Certificate: 18
Release date: November 10, 2008
RRP: £19.99