DVD review by Steve Bennett

This DVD, which has long been scheduled for a November release, now has an added poignancy after Giraldo took a fatal overdose of prescription medication in September, at the age of just 44.

Midlife Vices was his first hour-long Comedy Central special, although he was already famed for his beautifully barbed performances at celebrity roasts. Perhaps it’s because this hour-long solo show was designed as a way of introducing his comedy to a wider audience, but some of the harder edges have been knocked off his set. Nonetheless, Midlife Vices still demonstrates a smart wit and more insight than the stinging zingers of those roasts could ever hope to reveal.

Some of the material is broad and accessible, even when slightly gnarly, such as his complaints about the asthmatic peanut-allergic lumps of lard that comprise modern American youth. And elsewhere there is ‘what’s the deal with?’ style observational comedy about the likes of rain-sensing windscreen wipers, for those who like that brand of humour.

But he truly comes alive on the social insights and the political jibes – from his take on why he knew 9/11 would never dampen New York spirit to Hillary Clinton’s thinly veiled racism during her campaign against Barack Obama. Not that the president himself gets much slack, even though this was recorded last year when Obamamania was still in full force, with Giraldo perfectly puncturing the sort of everyman image that politicians feel compelled to project, whatever the truth.

He can combine big issues with knob gags, such as his take on the stem-cell research controversy, or get imaginative with his imagined sexual perversions, as his koala routine demonstrates. But with his fast-taking shtick you’re never too far from a gag, whatever the topic, and there are some great ones here. Plus he gets to demonstrate his crowd work when he spots a guy sleeping in the third row.

Though some of his angry passion is subdued, this is the sort of debut that would certainly build Giraldo’s fan base, and provoke great interest in what he would do next, especially if cut a little more stack to be meaner. Sadly, we’ll now never know the answer to that.

Greg Giraldo Midlife Vices
Recorded at: Union Square Theatre, New York
Running time: 67 mins
Extras: None
Released by: PIAS, November 8
Price: £15.99. Click here to by from Amazon at £9.99

Published: 15 Nov 2010