Review of Seriously Funny, The Greatest Comedy Collection

Introduction

Comic Relief has been and gone, raising a record amount of money on the night for worthy causes in Africa and the UK. Part of this year`s campaign is the release of this DVD containing the best bits from nearly 20 years of campaigning and telethons. Telethons always leave me a little uneasy, with their mix of often harrowing information films and light entertainment and Comic Relief is often the most unsettling in this regard. Disturbing footage of survivors of the Rwanda massacre would precede Vic and Bob being wheeled out to unleash their brand of anarchic humour. Laughter in such circumstances may seem in questionable taste. Despite that, Comic Relief is an unqualified success, and this disc is a look back at some of the funnier sketches and comic relief singles that have helped raise cash for this amazing organisation.

Video

This disc is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic ratio. Unfortunately that means that the original footage has been cropped down from its 4:3 ratio. It does on occasion become glaringly apparent that picture information is missing, and the picture quality reflects that of a zoomed in image. However the more recent clips are presented in the correct aspect ratio.

Audio

A DD 2.0 stereo track is what you get on this disc. It`s perfectly adequate and all the dialogue is clear.

Features

No extras, and no subtitles.

Conclusion

This one is a hard one to review, for more than one reason. It`s for a good cause, so what you shell out for it isn`t money down the drain in that sense. In fact I`m half tempted just to say, "Buy it regardless!" However there is a part of me that is obligated to tell you about what is on the disc.

It`s not very good, not good at all.

It starts with the Cliff Richard and the Young Ones single from the first comic relief all those years ago, Living Doll. (Yes, I`m old enough to remember it) It`s edited by the way, as you just get the chorus with no verses. Neil and Vyvyan singing "Look at her hair, it`s real" was the best bit and it isn`t even there. In fact many of the sketches and scenes showcased here are edited down to barely more than the punch lines. Nick Hancock, who I always think of as Davina McCall with balls, in that he`s talented at bellowing the autocue at camera, presents the disc. He`s toned down a bit though.

As for the clips on the disc, well comedy is in the eye of the beholder so you`ll have to skip through for the bits you like. I always enjoyed the earlier Comic Relief shows and found the older sketches on this disc funnier. There is the classic Bruno & Bruno as Romeo and Juliet sketch, the Men Behaving Badly meet Kylie, a snatch of Newman & Baddiel, the classic Ali G interview with the Beckhams, and some brilliant Fast Show moments. There are bursts of many of the Comic Relief singles from Bananarama, Spice Girls, Boyzone and Westlife.

On the down side, there is plenty of Alan Partridge, the morose Marion and Geoff, copious amounts of French & Saunders, Victoria Wood and Mr Bean. On top of this the Going for an English Sketch is wheeled out again from the Goodness Gracious Me team. I`ve got it memorised by now. Billy Connolly romps naked around Piccadilly Circus and I really can`t go on…

Actually there are a couple of points of interest left to mention. There are a series of rarely seen bloopers on here, albeit in the wrong aspect ratio from Blackadder, Bottom, Harry Enfield, French & Saunders and Red Dwarf. Well most of it is from Blackadder but it`s stuff you won`t find on the R2 series DVDs. Also there is a brief clip from the rarely seen Blackadder the Cavalier Years that was made especially for Comic Relief. It would have been better if they had put the whole thing on though.

The bottom line is that you don`t stay with any one act long enough to really enjoy it.

The content aside, I must mention that the disc I received from DVD Reviewer was knackered to put it mildly. Specifically, my trusty Sony would begin stuttering two thirds of the way through the disc and the picture would freeze somewhere round chapter 13. The error code that would flash up would urge me to clean the disc or try one less scratchy. I took the pristine and unsullied disc from my player and adjourned to my PC. My trusty PowerDVD software simply refused to boot up the disc urging me to clean what it assumed was a disc coated in detritus. It took a five-year-old piece of software from ATI with a forgiving error correction routine but horrible resolution to finally play the disc.

Now it could be that I am unlucky and got the one poorly pressed disc in the entire batch, but it could be that maximising profits for charity meant going to the lowest bidder to manufacture these discs. You should be aware of this when you purchase the disc.

Yes I say "when" not "if". Despite the questionable quality control and the content that barely raised a smile, this is for a good cause. Buying this contributes to worthy causes, and that might make you feel good. Here`s an idea, once you have seen the disc, you can donate it to a charity shop, they can sell it on and someone else will be helped. A charity chain DVD so to speak.