Steve Bennett reviews a couple of US DVDs, just released here

‘Perrier nominee’ the publicity blurb for Robert Schimmel’s new DVD import proudly proclaims. But you’d be forgiven for forgetting this suave American, as that success was way back in 1994 where fellow ‘losing’ nominees include Alan Davis, Jeff Green and Harry Hill.

A lot has happened since then. ‘I got my own TV show,’ he announces at the start of the show, eliciting the celebratory applause with which Stateside audiences are guaranteed to greet good news. ‘And I got cancer, lost a ball and got divorced.’

Ah.

Yes, this is the cancer show and – as it turns out – a perfect illustration of the difference between the American and British or Irish psyches. Watch shows on the same subjects by the likes of Andre Vincent or Des Bishop (who’s resolutely Irish despite his American roots), and you’ll see self-deprecating jokes at the humiliations the disease and its treatment entails, with only a hint of sentiment.

Schimmel has similar anecdotes, but he plays on the heartstrings. Showing pictures of his family, he’ll state earnestly how he beat the odds to survive his Non-Hodgkins lymphoma and even father a child, prompting more whoop-filled applause breaks. He stops the jokes to say how he prayed through his treatment, to deliver an solemn message about living life to the full, or to make explicitly clear that he’s not joking about anyone else with cancer. To cynical ears on this side of the Atlantic, such comments, however genuine, smack of schmaltz.

But in case you fear he’s going to get too Oprah; there are plenty of funny, borderline-gross anecdotes about the procedures to which he was subjected and the effects on his body, from the diarrhoea to the merkin (or ‘dick wig’ as he more accurately calls it) that replaces the pubic hair lost to chemo. He’s certainly not afraid to expose his own humiliations for our entertainment.

The cancer material takes only about half the show. He leads us into it gently with subjects stand-up audiences might be more familiar with: his wife not giving him oral sex, mixing with the actors at the porn awards, a few mentions of dope. These are, strangely, more identifiable landmarks on the comedy landscape than cancer, no matter common the disease is.

Schimmel’s takes on these topics are often straightforward, although just when you feel familiar with where you’re going, he frequently pulls an unexpected tagline out of the bag, to great affect. So while he rarely moves above the belt, segments such as his age-depleted ejaculations provide plenty of belly laughs. The cancer clearly didn’t affect his sense of humour too much.

Running time: 60mins
Extras: Deli Extra, 22 minute chat with the co-author of his book Cancer On $5 A Day; Five minutes of backstage footage.
Released by: Pias on March 22
Price: £14.99 or click here to buy from Amazon at £9.99.

JEFF GARLIN: YOUNG AND HANDSOME

Fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s dry, subtle wit are likely to be disappointed with star Jeff Garlin’s stand-up DVD, which feels more like the recording of a rather sloppy small-time gig rather than a slick TV special.

‘We’ll cut this out,’ is something of a catchphrase as he stumbles over words, forgets his place, or gets involved in some digression. Yet all such material did make the final cut, suggesting either that it's all part of the act – or that producers had to use every scrap of material they recorded, and even then, his set comes in at just 48 minutes, including start and end credits.

Nor is it 48 minutes of gold. The first routine, for example, is all about him caulking the plumbing in his bathroom. It’s funny because it sounds like cock, you see – a gag he can’t help but keep returning to.

Elsewhere, he proves himself a decent storyteller, recounting the time he stole a chocolate bar,played pranks on the PA system at a baseball game or had to chaperone Kid Rock. They’re entertaining enough, though lack the killer punch. And delivery-wise he affects a stage-whispered camp tone to represent the voice of the audience, or indeed various supporting characters in his yarns, that is rather too close to Jim Gaffigan’s gimmick for comfort.

Garlin does have a few stand-out one-liners, which he admits don’t fit well with his normal anecdotal shtick, so shoves them in a section on their own. Imaginative and slightly surreal (especially his sarcastic repost to cereals that ‘may’ lower cholesterol) these exhibit a sharpness that the rest of this rather ordinary performance is missing.

Running time: 48 mins
Extras: Director Bob Odenkirk Interviews Jeff Garlin (15mins) and two brief deleted scenes

Released by: Pias on May 10
Price: £14.99, or click here to buy from Amazon at £8.99

Published: 20 May 2010