While their TV show adopted a narrative format and the group's early success sprung from a series of sketch-like short films, Stella's live act is pretty free-form, with a touch of audience participation. The trio stands on stage and just talks, kind of like three stand-up acts on stage at the same time, interacting with one another. The act wanders from a discussion about types of Christmas trees (complete with a slideshow that eventually devolves into embarrassing photos of Black and Wain), a series of emotional poems, "logic"-based word games and a touch of singing.

Prior to the Comedy Central show, the group also recorded a "Comedy Central Presents" special, which was included on the "Stella" Season One DVD. The biggest issue with the group's live act, is that if you're a fan, the backbone of the act doesn't appear to have changed much over the years. Much like Tenacious D's TV show, first album and movie or Flight of the Conchords' radio show, live act and the first season of their TV show hit several of the same notes, Stella lovers will have to expect seeing some jokes they've already seen. In fact, if you saw Stella during the tour when Live in Boston was recorded, the act is almost word-for-word what you'd have seen then (verified by a friend of mine who was there when I watched the DVD, and went to see them perform).

Even so, the show is pretty funny. A major factor pushing it along is "Birthday", the all-new Stella short, played during the second half of the performance. Personally, I think their comedy works the best filmed rather than live, and "Birthday" only adds to this belief. When editing and directing are added to the mix (not to mention prop humor and other performers), the group's brand of comedy really takes off, as evidenced by this hilarious clip, with longtime Stella co-conspirator Zak Orth making a cameo as a magician. Other highlights of the show include when Black and Wain bring Showalter's high-school sweetheart on stage to see him, and the group discussing the best songs to have sex to. If I had to compare, I felt their "Comedy Central Presents" was slightly funnier; the first twenty or so minutes of Live in Boston, including the poetry reading, start out kind of slow, and many of the jokes feel like they go on past their breaking point. On the whole, though, the act picks up as it goes on.

Once again, Stella is an acquired taste. Other members of The State have gone on to do shows like the recently-canceled "Reno 911!" and the movies Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten (plus the aforementioned Role Models), so if you aren't familiar with Stella, there are a few less-esoteric stops you might want to make before diving right in. If you think you're ready, though, Live in Boston makes for an okay start, although I'd probably suggest you check out their TV show or the "Presents" episode first.

Note: The comedy stylings of Stella are intended for audiences 18 and older. Their TV show was toned down to what I'd call a hard PG-13 (PG-16?), but their Live DVD would be fully R-rated, for language and strong sexual content, even during the closing credits.

The DVD
Stella: Live in Boston comes in a transparent Amaray case, with stylish artwork resembling a refined, coffee-house version of their TV show's artwork, with red, black and white as the only colors and the performers shown in high-contrast photographs. The back cover actually has a somewhat extensive (for a DVD cover) and well-written history of the group, and inside there is an insert with chapter selections on one side and other Shout! Factory releases on the other.

The Video and Audio
Live in Boston seems to have been filmed on the cheap, and the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation reflects that. There are plenty of jagged edges and digital artifacting on the low-detail image, plus a sheen of light grain over the dark picture. It's a live DVD, so it's not unexpected, but it could easily look somewhat gross on a larger television.

Dolby Digital 5.1 is presented for audio, although I'm not entirely sure why. Other than laughter and the guys talking, there isn't really much going on, and directional effects for a live comedy show aren't going to be spectacular. It sounds fine, though (the only sound-related quibble is how loud the menus are compared to the disc content).

The Extras
There are several entertaining extras included here, although these are mostly for the group's casual or lazy fans, since the bulk of them are available online for free. My only real regret is that more of the Stella Shorts couldn't be included; the group had a DVD out at one point, but it went out of print and was never available in retail stores (it sounds like the group sold them at their shows, although I don't know if they still do or not).

The single extra directly related to Live in Boston is the encore "Ice Cream" (3:58), with the group taking a moment to talk about a community service project near and dear to their hearts.

Next, we have 3 webisodes each of David Wain's online series "Wainy Days" and Michael Showalter's CollegeHumor talk show "The Michael Showalter Showalter". From Wain's program, you get Episode 5: "Walking Tour" (4:30, with Kerri Kenney-Silver), Episode 6: "A Woman's Touch" (4:36, with Black, Rashida Jones and Andrea Rosen) and Episode 20: "Molly" (5:16, with Showalter). "A Woman's Touch" is the funniest, although I've seen some funnier episodes of "Wainy Days" online (like the one with Paul Rudd as a dating expert); these were obviously selected because they feature his Stella partners. Episodes of "The Michael Showalter Showalter" included are two with Black (5:16 and 5:51) and one with Wain (5:00). The first of these episodes is the funniest, with more than a few potshots taken at both lame celebrity interview questions and Black's Sierra Mist commercials.

Lastly, three short clips from Stella's live performances at Fez, titled "Carols" (1:30), "Stella" (8:32, with an appearance by State co-star Ken Marino) and "J Crew" (3:53) finish things off. The group seems a little looser in these bits. It's a shame that an entire recording couldn't have been included, but it's filmed like a home video, so who knows how much of the act even exists.

Trailers for Dana Gould: Let Me Put My Thoughts in You, Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion and Mike Birbiglia: What I Should Have Said Was Nothing (Tales From My Secret Public Journal) play before the menu.

Conclusion
Live in Boston is a pretty good snapshot of the group's comedic style, but there are better ones, like their television show or "Comedy Central Presents" episode. Since they're also an acquired taste, I suggest both fans and non-fans rent it and and give the special a spin before committing to a purchase.