John Pinette: I'm Starvin'! is a video of John Pinette performing at the Montreal Comedy Festival. He is a standup comedian and actor, and has been in the stand-up comic business since the early eighties. Pinette has been in a variety of guest roles in television and film, which include guest roles on The Tonight Show, Seinfeld, and Dear God. He also recently spent a couple years in Broadway performing in the musical production of Hairspray. As for this standup performance, Pinette gives it his all and talks about many different aspects of his life, which all seem to tie into his eating habits and weight.

Here's a breakdown of the bits Pinette performs.

1. Opening: On Broadway
2. Getting in Shape
3. Salad & Vegetables
4. Touring the World
5. Family
6. Outdoor Recreation
7. Cruises
8. Get Outta Line

While there are only eight separate bits, they are fairly long. The entire feature runs for approximately seventy-two and a half minutes. Of the eight topics Pinette covers, he spends a fair amount of time building up each subject and then providing multiple deliveries. For instance, the opening "On Broadway" features Pinette cracking jokes about dressing like a woman, shaving his eyebrows, getting his wardrobe for the part, and other stuff. He goes through quite a lot of material, which almost always ties into his eating habits and obesity.

I personally found his focus and delivery to be a problem. Since the majority of his material dealt with being overweight and eating poorly, a lot of his performance felt repetitive. For instance, when he does the "Salad & Vegetables", he complains about mixed green and then turnips, as well as eating healthy in general. There really isn't a whole lot of variety to it. The unfortunate part is the entire performance felt this way.

Overall, I was not a huge fan of Pinette's performance. There were a few moments when he was exceptionally funny. But on the whole, his performance felt like the same thing over and over again. He talks about one thing and ties it into his weight. After a while, it just got dull. I suppose if John Pinette is on your favorite's list, or you just enjoy listening to someone make jokes about life and tie it into their weight, John Pinette: I'm Starvin'! is just for you.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color. The picture quality for this video transfer is pretty good. There are some evident compression artifacts, but nothing really bad. The picture is pretty clear and clean.

Audio:
The audio is supplied in both 5.1 Dolby digital surround and 2.0 Dolby digital stereo. The quality is pretty good. The 5.1 track seemed to be overkill, as the 2.0 stereo track was sufficient. Pinette was audible throughout the performance, with audience laughter affecting the dialogue to a minimum.

Extras:
For extras, there is additional footage of Pinette for those who couldn't get enough. They include "John Pinette, Fashion Plate" (1:16), a short video of the photo shoot right before the show, "The Buffet" (0:46), backstage with Pinette as he complains about the healthy buffet, "No Take-Out" (0:23), complains there is no take out in Montreal, and "Encore" (4:16), the encore performance.

Final Thoughts:
John Pinette: I'm Starvin'! is a video of the live performance comedian John Pinette gave at the Montreal Comedy Festival. Pinette gives a decent performance and manages to put together a few solid laughs. However, more often than not, his material was dry and felt redundant. In the end, I think this DVD is best reserved for individuals who really enjoy standup performances. Rent it.