Finally, a Pauly Shore stand up special that is what it should be. It isn't an oddly, soap opera styled picture like Pauly Shore is Dead. It isn't a goofy and unfunny parody-fest like Natural Born Komics. It's true stand up material from five comedians who all do a fairly decent job. This is proof that it isn't hard to make a good special.
I've been asking for a DVD of Pauly Shore's stand up routine, and if this is the closest I'll get I'm satisfied. We only get about ten minutes of just him before his friends come out to play. That's fine. The best thing is, the four people who came out, with the exception of Pauly's father Sammy Shore, are all not well known up-and-comers so there really is no expectations to meet.
That's the reason I watch things like Comedy Central Presents. Most of the people who do stand-up on there are like openers for the big namers. You don't know their style, their personality, or their sense of humor. You go into it blind, and come out with a sweet or sour taste in your mouth. Comedy Central Presents helped me learn about the comedians Kevin Hart, Natasha Leggero, and Loni Love who are all, hopefully, working on becoming household names.
Pauly Shore and Friends is only a slim and slender sixty minutes long, but has five charming performances by the man himself, Ilisa Shlesinger, Steve Rannazzisi, Carl Labove, and Sammy Shore in that order. Each person gets roughly ten minutes at the mic, and each one is good in there own way.
Pauly Shore puts on a very dirty short and sweet show talking about his youth. Ilisa Shlesinger is hilarious and easily my favorite of the group as she talks about men/women fighting and the "winter shorts." Steve Rannazzisi is funny as he speaks the truth about how women decorate their house with unnecessary crap. Carl Labove talks about hotel air conditioners being too close to the bed, and when the friendship of Sam Kinison and Pauly Shore came to an abrupt end when Kinison died tragically in a car accident. The show is concluded by Pauly's father Sammy Shore, at the time of filming age 81, as he goes through some jokes that are heart attack inducing if told to people his age.
All of the performances are not under-stayed or overstayed, so the length of sixty minutes is perfect. In between performances we get Pauly doing a two to three minute interview of the person. Each one is close in Pauly's heart, and each one has their own time in the special. Going into this blind, I came out refreshed.
Pauly Shore and Friends isn't perfect, but finally we get something I'm sure many have asked for. I could be picky and say "it would've been better if we got an hour of Pauly Shore stand up comedy," but, thanks to this setup, instead of listening to one already known comedian, we get four other comedians that I will likely follow in the future. Positive, think positive.
Performances by: Pauly Shore, Ilisa Shlesinger, Steve Rannazzisi, Carl Labove, and Sammy Shore. Directed by: Scott L. Montoya.
