DVD review by Steve Bennett

This is another in what can only be seen as an increasingly cynical commercial trend of repackaging bits of earlier DVD releases to cash in on the lucrative Christmas market.

No doubt aunts and grannies everywhere will snap up this greatest hits package for the Lee Evans fan in their families, irregardless of whether they already have the three shows from which it has been patched together: 2002’s Wired And Wonderful Live At Wembley, 2005’s XL Tour and last year’s Big.

The DVD producers have at least put some effort into compiling the material. Evans has recorded a bit at the start introducing the clips, purportedly as a ‘thank-you’ to all his fans (a gesture they’ll only have to pay up to £20 for), and there’s an enjoyable new half-hour interview with Phill Jupitus.

They’ve also chosen the material well, splicing the best bits together in some sort of logical manner. But the one thing they can’t do anything about is the unimaginative simplicity of much of that material.

A quick glance at the chapter headings show how unambitious the choice of topics over the past seven years has been: Driving, Men vs Women, Holidays, Sport. Though his fans would no doubt see such a list as evidence of how universal his ‘what is it with…’ routines are, rather than how obvious.

In truth, it’s a bit of both. Noticing that airline pilots have posh voices, that women always remember old arguments, or that people in Claims Direct-style adverts are stupid will be very familiar to anyone who’s ever stepped foot inside a comedy club in the last 20 years. Other comments, about overpaid footballers, the annoyance of getting stuck behind tractors and women talking through TV shows are barely even comedy routines, more the everyday complaints of men making small-talk in the pub.

Sharing these gripes means poor Evans may be immensely successful, but is never going to be fashionable, That he always goes down the most obvious route doesn’t help either. Watching this compilation, it’s noticeable how often he simply reels off some minor annoyance with ‘oh, fuck off!’ as the punchline. (He is surprisingly foul-mouthed for a comic who has a lot of young fans). Otherwise, his staple formula is to note some element of human behaviour, then say ‘you wouldn’t do that in [insert different situation here]’, and describe what would happen in that obviously ill advised juxtaposition.

That said, there are a rare few segments here that feel more original, with the occasional smart line really standing out – such as his description of caravan owners enjoying the feeling of space and freedom – only to live in the most cramped conditions possible.

He then acts out trying to move in such a confined space, to great effect – employing by far his greatest asset. Beyond the blandness of much of the writing, Evans is undeniably a great physical clown, and his enthusiastic but measured, re-creation of every scenario is an object lesson in this brand of comedy. And at least on DVD – unlike in the arenas where these shows were filmed – you can see the detail in the performance.

But then fans already know this, as they’ll presumably already own DVDs of this compilation’s constituent shows.

As an interesting postscript, this release inadvertently gives a new angle on the recent controversy over whether the 118 118 adverts ripped off stand-up Micky Flanagan’s routine about going ‘out out’. Evans uses the exact-same phrase in a Big routine about a woman describing what sort of outfit she wants. The segment is less nuanced that Flanagan’s, however, with the punchline, inevitably, another ‘fuck off’.

Main feature: 105 mins
Extras: Even Closer, a 30-minute interview with Phill Jupitus; The Last Of The Little Uns (24mins), a shortened version of his 1998 Live In Scotland video.
Released by: Universal Pictures, November 16
Price: £19.99. Click here to buy from Amazon at £12.68.

Published: 18 Nov 2009