Iliza Shlesinger: War Paint

Iliza had some good jokes but she ruined them with that super annoying horrible dolphin/goat sound she made constantly. It might have been kinda sorta funny once or twice, but it was done TO. DEATH...and then some. I tried really hard to put up with it to hear the material that I actually liked, hoping that for the love of god she would please stop making that terrible terrible sound soon, but it increased in both frequency and irritation. It made me cringe every time I heard it, so I gave up with about 15 minutes left. I couldn't handle anymore. It was just the worst sound I have ever heard. I couldn't take anymore. At a certain point the awfulness of the sound outweighed whatever humour the material had.

Iliza Shlesinger is a breath of fresh air. She delivers quick-witted, observational humor, interspersed with rapid-fire stream of consciousness references that can be a challenge to keep up with so keep that remote handy because you might need to rewind every once in a while. As for the "goat" noises, here is my take on that. They are sheep noises, not goat noises. Why does that matter? Because, I noticed that when she does them, she is making fun of people who don't think for themselves, i.e., sheep. I'm only giving her 6 stars because her later shows are so much better. Check out Elder Millennial.

This was the first time I had seen anything from Iliza, and overall it shows that she DOES have talent, but her act clearly needed work. It's aged reasonably well, but there are some longer bits that just aren't funny (the pharmacy witch) and seem to drag on.

It's worth watching, but there are better specials out there.

Last Comic Standing season 6 winner Iliza Shlesinger makes her major league debut with War Paint and she brings the energy in spades. Looking like Stephanie from Full House who never grew out of a college punk rock phase, she seems in her element here. I remember when she appeared as a guest comic on the season finale of LCS's 7th season, which they were treating as a formal event, and, as such, she wore a dress that she looked so uncomfortable in that it distracted from her set. It was partially because Iliza's a bit of a tomboy and her comedy could be described the same way. While she's been effective in smaller doses, you find yourself checking the time as the show drags on with her dolphin/sheep vocal effect beginning to grate fairly quickly. She does have some decent material that works well with her persona and her confidence and swagger are engaging, so she has plenty to work with as she develops. One feels she might have a few good sets in her.

Iliza Shlesinger's stand-up special is one of the better female stand-ups around. She is able to deliver laugh after laugh without resorting to the same sexist or sexual content that so many other women seem to resort to in order to be successful. The only weak part, in my opinion at least, was that she seemed to use way too much vocal sound effects. Sure, sometimes it actually added to the bit or the punchline but more times than not it just detracted from it. It actually got somewhat annoying at times as well. It seemed to me that she had never run that by people because I'd imagine someone would've told her something. Nonetheless, the material is great but the execution could've been better.