Gallagher: Mad as Hell (1981)

Director: Marc Payton

Starring: Gallagher

More info: IMDb

Plot: Gallagher's pissed and he's got an hour to tell you about it.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Oh, yeah.


"I don't want you to get the idea that I experiment with drugs, 'cause I don't. I'm into full-scale research."

I've been a fan of Gallagher's since I was a teen in the mid 80s and caught one of his specials on VHS. I had heard about his Sledge-O-Matic and smashing food and shit but I wanted to see it because I've always been a huge fan of standup comics and here was a new one to me. I really dug his style. The watermelon smashing was funny and all but that wasn't what made me a fan; it was his standup routine that I dug.


It's always been troubling to me that he's either known as a 'prop comic' or 'the guy who smashes shit' because his standup is very good and it gets overlooked. His routines are based on real life and it's observational. He loves language and uses the history of it in his standup. In that regard he's not too far from George Carlin and that's what attracts me to his and Carlin's style.


MAD AS HELL is Gallagher's first comedy special and what makes it unusual is that there's no Sledge-O-Matic so this might be the one to watch if you don't dig that part of his routine.