I had heard the name Doug Stanhope, but I really wasn’t familiar with his comedy. I knew him mainly from his time on The Man Show after the original hosts left the show and from a Girls Gone Wild commercial that aired incessantly for several months during late night programming on Comedy Central and Spike TV. When I saw the DVD at one of the pawn shops I frequent, I decided to pick it up and give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t necessarily agree with Doug on everything, and his material is definitely adult in nature, but there is an intelligence to his comedy that is belied by his drunken and slightly aggressive at times delivery.
Stanhope spends the entire show with a lit cigarette in his hand, puffing away. He also drinks quite a bit during the show. He claims that he is funnier when he is drunk. It’s hard to tell with some comics whether what they say is part of an act or if they truly believe everything they say. Stanhope claims that guys from AA have even pretty much told him not to quit drinking because he’s not as funny when he’s sober. He rails against no smoking laws and flaunts the fact that in New York it is illegal to smoke inside unless it’s part of a theatrical performance, which he naturally claims his act to be so that he can smoke.
Stanhope is not politically correct by a long way, and if you are easily offended, stay away from this disc. On the other hand if you understand satire and can laugh at things that might make you uncomfortable, Stanhope is one of the funniest guys I’ve seen in a long time. The DVD case compares him to Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks. Those are some huge shoes to fill, and I’d need to see some more of his stuff before I weigh in on those comparisons. What I will say is if the rest of his work is as well done as what is presented on No Refunds, it’s possible a case could be made for the comparison.
I plan to keep my eye out for other Stanhope DVDs. No Refunds gets a 10 on the Hight Flight scale.
365 Days of DVDs 