The DVD presents five comics, all but one American born children of Indian parents, in a concert setting in Los Angeles before a curiously reserved audience (made up of a lot of Indians, as is repeatedly pointed out). While that occasional lack of big audience response sometimes lends the proceedings a subdued, not to mention even awkward, feeling from time to time, all five performers land some very clever jokes, showing that humor can indeed be universal. The five featured performers are:

Rajiv Satyal starts the show off with a very low-key (some would argue too low-key) set that focuses on what will be a recurring setup for almost all of the comics: the differences between Americanized youth and their Indian born parents. All of the comics do patently funny imitations of "Indian-speak," but Rajiv centers his around both his dunderheaded father and also various other natives he comes into contact with, including the father of a girl he dated. While Satyal has a nice, genial style, his laid back demeanor lacks a little energy, and I could literally feel him losing his audience from time to time, notably when about two-thirds of the way through his set, he forgets what he's setting up. That leads to a clever tangent on forgetfulness, but the break in momentum is palpable. Satyal is nicely self-effacing, as are most of the comics on this DVD, and with a little more concerted energy can easily break into the bigtime (his father's dream is to see Satyal on Jay Leno, according to an extra interview).

Next up is the spunky one-named Dalia, of mixed heritage, with one Indian parent and one Scotch, which, according to her, makes her a "cheap thief." (Isn't it interesting how various ethnic groups have free-reign to pillory their own "kind," when it would be blatantly politically incorrect for anyone else to?). Dalia's set is a little more free-wheeling than Satyal's, including a clever, if not quite funny enough, riff on America's acronym-laden culture, but the audience was again curiously non-responsive. Dalia has a sweet "girl next door" nature mixed with just enough sauciness to give some of her material that extra oomph, as in her hilarious explanation of what the little red dot on Indian women's heads means.

The most obviously Americanized of the group is Mark Saldana (he in fact jokes about being a "Mark" among all the "Rajivs" and "Dalias"), who could pass as any Caucasian comic were it not for his dark brown skin. Saldana's frat-boy humor is the most non-specific of the group here, though he does get a couple digs in at the prim "Aunties" in the audience (Indians refer to any non-family members as either Auntie or Uncle, which makes remembering names an easy task). Saldana's is also the bluest of the sets here, with a lot of 'R' and even 'X' rated material, albeit very funny, as when he talks about a heavily tattooed girl he brought home who, due to her position, began to look like a racecar. I'll leave the details up to your imagination.

The very sweet Vijai Nathan is up next, doing not just some great impersonations of her Indian parents, but also easy targets like Valley Girls. Nathan has a disarming quality that seems to finally win over the audience, resulting in some of the biggest laughs of the evening. Dealing in family humor that any nationality can recognize (Nathan is the "black sheep" of three daughters, the other two of whom are a doctor and a lawyer), she does some great work making fun of her anti-British mother and strict father. Nathan has a sort of naughty undercurrent to a lot of her humor that is actually quite endearing as she delivers her lines with the wide-eyed look of a naïf not quite aware of what she's saying.

The strongest set of the evening comes from the one actual born-in-India comedian represented here, Vidur Kapur, who manages to take the minority niche market up a level by announcing that not only is he Indian, but gay. Managing to work in everything from slap-happy Catholic nuns to Jews at Yom Kippur (which his mother mistakes for an individual with a similar last name to theirs), Kapur has a "dishy" quality that is irresistible. The audience seems to finally have their guard down by the time Kapur takes the stage, and he scores the most consistent laughs of the evening.

The DVD

Video:
The enhanced 1.78:1 transfer is fine, if unexceptional. Colors and contrast are excellent, though there is some major aliasing on the gridded backdrop that makes up the stage's major dressing.

Sound:
Nothing really to write home about in this standard stereo soundtrack, but that's expected in a comedy concert like this. All of the comedians' routines are easily heard, especially considering the audience's peculiarly muted reaction a lot of the time.

Extras:
About 20 minutes of bonus interview footage is included, which will start playing automtically after the main concert, or which can be accessed separately from the main menu.

Final Thoughts:
All five of these comedians have moments of brilliance, though at least a couple of them venture into material blue enough you won't want your younger kids listening. This is certainly worth an evening's rental for stand-up fans.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet