The Show
I fully admit, I never saw "St. Elsewhere," so I may not exactly "get" early Howie Mandel comedy. But I did seem his act later on, and he was very funny. He has a manic energy on-stage that works for him. He seems to have segued nicely into OCD from what looked like a cocaine-induced madness as illustrated on this DVD. Unable to stand still for a moment, and constantly yelling or making faces, this 1983 show was akin to torture to sit through. I didn't laugh or smile once the entire time, which made me sad.

Am I getting too mature to enjoy stupid comedy? Nay I say. I still love Anchorman and "Family Guy," so crotch kicks must still have an effect on me. I think the problem lies in the show, which was recorded over 20 years ago in Mandel's home town of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It's not that the comedy hasn't aged well. There would have to be comedy inherent in the show. This one had non-jokes, like Mandel gesturing and making faces, while stalking the stage like he has magnets in his shoes and is standing on a giant refrigerator. I realize that was a reach, but not a bigger one than the comedy attempted here.

Switching off between dumb prop jokes, talking to audience members and acting like a spaz, Mandel comes off as a total bore. This kind of act may have worked then, in the heyday of screaming comics, but it's just awful today. Frequently, his act devolves into a parody of schizophrenia, as he jitters back and forth, yelling to the audience, and getting nothing in return to make an interesting show.

Fans of Mandel's trademark blown-up surgical glove will not be disappointed, though they should be. The only good thing to come out of this show is a piece done as Bobby Generic, Mandel's character on his kids show, "Bobby's World." I never knew it was part of his act first, nor that he did the part blue, so it was a bit of a shock. But hearing that voice and listening to what he said almost made it worth watching this DVD. Almost. Definitely not though.

The DVD
On one DVD, you get the one-hour stand-up special, which starts automatically when you put the disc in your player. The main menu is the only menu, a static full-frame list of the chapter stops with a picture of Mandel. That's all you get. There are no language options, no subtitles and no closed captioning.

The Quality
Anyone who's seen a VHS copy of an old cable stand-up act has seen quality like this. Thought the detail is a touch higher and color is decent, there's tons of grain and noise, and the whole full-frame presentation has that soft fuzziness that early 80s HBO specialized in.

The audio, a Dolby Digital 2.0 track of a mono audio mix is distinctly weak, though the audience gets much louder than it should, drowning out Mandel at points. It doesn't really matter in terms of the sound quality. I just mention it, because it's unusual that the audience would laugh at this material.

The Extras
There's nothing extra about this DVD. It's as barebones as it gets.

The Bottom Line
Why Image would choose to release this awful piece of performance art (I can't call it stand-up) instead of the infinitely more funny "Hooray for Howie Would" is beyond me. At least it's not like they made an effort in releasing it though, as the DVD package is underwhelming even by 1996 standards. You're better off waiting for a possible future collection of his new show, or better yet, "Hooray for Howie Would" on DVD. Skip this if you can't afford to lose 57 minutes of your life.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.