Lewis Black: Unleashed

Starring: Lewis Black

More info: IMDb

Plot: Comedy Central's jittery, apoplectic commentator on all things absurd in politics and culture is superb on this disc's collection of four half-hour cable specials and bonus features. Fans and newcomers get a chance to see how much the comic has grown since his delightful 1998 show, in which Black characteristically sputtered this bit of social-scientific criticism: "It's absolutely stupid that we've lost the ozone layer. We've got men, rockets, Saran Wrap--fix it!" Black attacks Bill Clinton for obscuring the meaning of infidelity ("If curling is an Olympic sport, oral sex is adultery!"), Y2K hype, flu shots, America's power elite, Ross Perot ("He's the kid in Deliverance all growed-up!"), and even delivers a "Taxes 101" college lecture ("What would help IRS forms? Verbs!"). Bonus features include Black's "Indecision 2000" inserts--caustic commentary about the last Republican and Democrat conventions--for Jon Stewart's show.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Sadly, no.

#14 on Stand-up Comedy Month, May 2012

I REALLY like Lewis Black. His unique delivery sells the humor. I much prefer his 'pissed off' persona to that of Denis Leary. Because these specials aired on Comedy Central, they've got the commercial break bumpers intact and it's annoying. I've heard a lot of Black's routines before and I much prefer them in the one hour, uncensored vein. I was shocked that I didn't laugh all that much at these. Maybe it's because of the constant forced breaks. The highlight were the 40+ minutes of bits he did for the Republican and Democratic conventions. Those were great. Everything else was just average Lewis Black.