Rufus Hound: Being Rude

DVD review by Steve Bennett

As he admits in this show, Rufus Hound has not had the grounding in stand-up you might expect of a comic releasing his own DVD.

Happily making his way on the circuit, he was scooped up by TV a few years ago and placed in the box marked ‘presenter’ before he could really hone his craft on the live scene, only occasionally keeping his hand in with some compering work.

Nonetheless, he has clearly kept abreast of what makes a strong solo show, and his debut is an impressive piece of oration, which pulls the audience along on his philosophical and emotional ride. Admittedly, many of the themes will come as little surprise to the hardened comedy-goer – as he argues that there is no God, discusses the lairiness of lads or the media-fuelled insecurities of women, and sings the praises of the blow job – but he’s certainly applied some craftsmanship to both the material and the performance.

And let’s not forget that this DVD, presumably, will have two audiences: both the voracious devourer of stand-up, and the causal fan who recognises Hound, or his moustache, from Celebrity Juice or dressing up as Cheryl Cole.

For these viewers, Hound could prove a gateway comic, offering a glimpse of comedy more purposeful than making jokes (however funny) about the hairstyles of X Factor contestants. This nihilistic stand-up, explaining emotions and behaviour from an evolutionary point of view, is probably not what they expect, even if he could probably go further still.

In style, he’s an accessible version of Stewart Lee, whose deliberate, repetitive, delivery is a very obvious influence. Even when you know where a drawn-out segment is heading, this still proves a surprisingly effective device. Hound’s main weapon is his rhetoric, making his points as eloquently and forcefully as any good preacher, which is ultimately what proves so engaging.

This neatly-packaged release was filmed in the 100 Club, a nicely intimate environment which allows the home viewer to share the emotions of the live audience, as closely as filmed stand-up ever allows. A couple of crowd reactions – in particular a lone, perfectly-timed, gasp towards one particularly downbeat conclusion – ensure it’s not just a clinical filmed performance.

Extras include footage from an old Live At The Comedy Store TV show, a long interview and commentary from Fearne Cotton and Keith Lemon, as well as Hound himself.