Chris Rock: Never Scared

Now, I had only a vague idea Chris Rock existed as an artistic human being on this planet up to this comedy show. Actually, up to the point he was announced as the next host of the Oscars, but the two moments nearly coincide.

Whether Rock is better or worse than in his other shows, I can not judge, for I've, obviously, yet to have seen them. But I believe this here show is enough ground for me to state, that Rock is a damn good comedian. He's got what it takes to keep the audience in tears of laughter for minutes in a row, he's spontaneous, original, charismatic and, of course, hilarious.

In "Never Scared", Rock is being rather tough on a lot of rather nasty and scandalous individuals, from strippers, to Michael and Janet Jackson, to the American government, to Mr. Bush W. etc. Out of these, poking at Michael is most fun. There are other "issues" at hand in "Never Scared" too, some more brilliant than others, which I really enjoyed listening to. I did sometimes question the approaches to one or two of the themes, but it was still easy to swallow down the jokes without being overly concerned or insulted by the content.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Chris Rock in the future. Because he's still got one.

For his fourth special for HBO (third full-length), Chris Rock returns to Washington, D.C. Rock's grown a little since the last we saw him. His delivery resembles that of a preacher's more than ever before, with more inflection in his speech and the increased use of repetition. While his previous specials contained some casual sexism and mild misogyny, Rock's now confronted with the birth of his daughter, which one thinks may challenge some of his old viewpoints. Sadly, there seems to be little change in his archaic views on relationships or his often combative approach to women. Fortunately, Rock handles politics and cultural commentary with a more progressive viewpoint, adding his own spin on the issues without fear of crossing any lines. On the issue of pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, Rock's razor-sharp insights confront some hypocritical truths. Rock's support of gay marriage is a welcome development, even if he does make marriage about as appealing as getting waterboarded. Rock's charm and charisma does a fair bit to overcome some narrow mindedness, being able to land jokes that would be groan-inducing by other comics. A mixed bag of material with a million dollar delivery.

Chris Rock is a very smart comedian, but he forgets something about what made Bigger and Blacker and especially Bring the Pain funny- he then ONLY brought the jokes, not applause lines. A good deal of what comes out in his latest special, Never Scared, is funny, but a good lot of it doesn't strike up the rousing, even enormous laughs that came out of some of his classic bits (i.e. N****ers and Black People, Tossed Salad Man, the Columbine/Bill Clinton riff from 99). He's on fire in spurts, and that's what makes the 90 minutes worth watching, as he does have some great stuff here and there, such as when he attacks celebrities (The Jackson family, R. Kelly, wealth and rich in the black community "Rims- they spinnin' and spinnin' and spinnin'"), describes the bad parts about marriage, and so on. If only some bits wouldn't drag in so many parts to little laughs as opposed to bigger ones....this being said, after seeing it more times on HBO (it pops up a lot depending on the time you might be up at night), some of the lines work much funnier, especially the part about defending rap music and what it's like when one couple meets the "perfect" couple. A-

Oh my gosh... this show is great. After watching it for the first time I couldn't help watching 2 more times in the same day. My personal favorite's is "Niggaz vs. Black people". But this one was great too.

Chris Rock makes fun of rap music, the Jacksons, the president of the U.S., strippers, married people, couples and a few other things. Anyhow, it's hilarious.

I simply loved the STRIPPER MYTH: "I'm stripping to pay my tuition" :)))))))))

I recommend it to anybody who is over 18 and likes stand-up comedy.

10 out of 10

Chris once again delivers laughs, especially in the beginning when he talks about keeping daughters off the pole and the stripper myth ("I'm stripping to pay my tuition" "If that's true, then how come I never got a smart lapdance?!"), rap music, getting with murder (Shoot him in the head and put a demo tape in his pocket), and celebrity scandals. However, when he starts talking about politics (The war in Iraq, patriotism, favoring white people over black people) it turns more into a speech/sermon rather than a stand-up routine. He seemed more focus about getting applause from the crowd, rather than laughs like in Big Ass Jokes, Bring The Pain, and Bigger & Blacker. However, it's still funny and worth a watch.