The title "Ralphie May: Prime Cut" summarizes this stand-up special pretty well as you have the name of the artist as well as the name of the program. It was recorded back in 2007, so it has its 10th anniversary this year and it could not be a sadder occasion as Ralphie May died a couple weeks ago from cardiac arrest. You can say that what made him big (no pun intended) also killed him eventually as his severe obesity was definitely his trademark that set him physically apart, even if you could see that he wanted other trademarks too, like his hands in his pants. And it was maybe all about his face expressions too as I thought this was maybe his biggest strength here. I sure liked his physical approach to his program. Sadly his material (i.e. the audio side) was not always on par. Was it funny? Sometimes. Was is ridiculous (in a good way)? Never. This show here runs for pretty much exactly an hour, although apparently they cut it to under 45 minutes for a television special or so. I don't approve. The DVD is 60-61 minutes and that's the version that counts eventually. I also have to give a thumbs-down to the audience recordings too. I found them pretty annoying and they destroyed the flow here. All in all, the really funny moments weren't enough for me in terms of both quantity and quality to recommend the overall outcome here. I suggest you watch something else instead, but still include Ralphie May in your prayers. His fate (and clearly his attempts to lose weight which he did before this one was filmed knowing about his poor health) should remind us all in the face of constant shaming of thin people (especially women) that it is equally, if not more, unhealthy to be severely obese. Rest in peace Ralphie.
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