Chris Rock: Never Scared

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source: Chris Rock: Never Scared

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.

Never been totally sold on Chris Rock myself but I do tend to like angry and outrageous comedians at times and so I decided to check out this special. What I was looking for is the same as always which is lots of energy and strong language but that it is all used in context of a funny and insightful routine. Mostly this is what I got here as Rock covers topics such as marriage, parenthood, rap music and so on. The audience seemed more engaged than I was but I was still laughing along in an amused rather than "in hysterics" way. I think the reason for this is perhaps that Rock is really good with an audience and plays off them with great energy and timing - some of that does come across on the screen but not to the extent that I'm sure it is up close and personal. This helps him anyway because it can only be a good thing for a performer for your weaker moments to be met by frantic laughter, nodding and knee-slapping. Or at least that is how it works here because some of his material is not as smart or as based in realism as I would have liked, even if the majority of it is pretty sharp. Perhaps understandably he doesn't get into challenging the things he is joking about and as a result the viewer can ignore the shoe whether it fits or not. This does detract a little from his "importance" as a comedian but not his ability to get a laugh. Never Scared is pretty funny even if I never found it hilarious. The broad caricatures and gags are mostly based in reality to make for a satisfying comedy but some viewers will lose the good in the fact that it is very crude and sexually graphic in the content. To others this will be part of the appeal and this is often the way of things, but the show itself is just about good enough to appeal to the casual viewer as well as fans of Rock and this style of comedy.

Chris once again delivers laughs, especially in the beginning when he talks about keeping daughters off the pole and the * 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.

I have no respect for Chris Rock! Why is a man being punished for standing up for a woman's honor? I am hopeful that chivalry is not dead. I support Will Smith 2000%!!!! I have no respect for Chris Rock as a man. As a woman, I am tired of men being praised for disrespecting women!! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to disagree with you Mr. Stanton when I say this show was enjoyable. But Chris Rock, can do great things and can say some great things, so it wasn't as vapid as you suggested. There are times Chris seemed to fall on old standby concepts too often: the sexual vulgarity, didn't quite pull that off as well as Bigger and Blacker, I couldn't tell whether Chris was committing treason or comitting murder, but some things just did not fly. Overall I enjoyed the show, though it wasn't Chris at his best.

Oh dear! a politically incorrect, Politically unfocused and finger-pointing humorist that scathes mostly the black American experience: Well that's as old as riots in the 'hood, and yet his twists and turns of that finger has white folks squirming too. In the wake of 9/11 it is an almost obligatory and disappointing side to his (and others) humour that he qualifies his tirades with: 'I love America......but" and so forth. This is Chris 'fourth HBO outing and he is as provocative and engaging as his fans could have hoped for. Its clear when he's off the mark as the audience waits respectfully for a truer hit. But these times are few and his charming vulgarity wins you over. Along with Richard Pryor & Eddie Murphy he proves to be one of the top three-black - if not American-broadcast stand-ups of today

Chris Rock once again commands the stage in his fourth HBO special, NEVER SCARED, which is just as fall-on-the-floor funny as the previous three. Chris is a bold and polished presence onstage and has become to HBO comedy what George Carlin used to be. His concerts have become "Must-See TV" and I'm sure they will continue to be so for a long time to come. Though his themes are similar, Chris never really repeats material. As always, he covers a myriad of subjects here, including the war, the president, sex, marriage, Michael Jackson, drugs, relationships, strippers, and rap music. Another thing I love about Chris is that he's never afraid to push the envelope where his audience is concerned. There is always at least one joke that generates as many uncomfortable "Oooooooh's" as it does laughs. Chris also never forgets that he's a man and every concert also contains at least one joke that only gets laugh from the men in the audience, but Chris doesn't care. He says what's on his mind and what people think, be damned but he never leaves the stage without a standing ovation.

Everyone lives in their own movie. We make up that movie from those we see, and many of us don't know it. Some movies are made purely to help us define ourselves and these are necessarily targeted to certain demographics. Nowhere is this more true than in the gay, teen and black worlds. Chris Rock now sits on the throne between where there used to be two seats, the Bill Cosby and Richard Prior seats. That means he has to alternate between helping Blacks laugh at themselves and animating conspiracies. He must have found a sweet spot: hard for me to judge, I'm sort of a George Carlin kind of guy. Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.