Change Your Image
DaiBato
Reviews
Looks Like a Brown Trouser Job (2005)
Worth it for Chapman fans
Graham Chapman is shown to good advantage here during a series of college lectures he gave during 1988. Chapman looks very thin in this footage, which is a sad testament to the relatively little time he had left to live. Be warned that all the footage looks very cheesy because it was shot with a variety of amateur video cameras (though a tripod was obviously being used). The footage cuts among several lectures, yet the continuity is intact because Chapman seemed to be sticking to a script used throughout the lecture tour.
This is a very eloquent yet verbose lecture. My major complaint is that, to me as a Python fan, Chapman went on too long in the lecture about the Dangerous Sports Club and did not spend nearly enough time on his Python experiences, which take up less than half the lecture. I found the 'shitties' segment both unique and hilarious.
The audio segments seemed a little fragmented (as if they came from the same conversation) except for the funny Boxing Day explanation. The Video extras were interesting and included additional lecture footage about Python-related experiences, a T.V. commercial and an Iron Maiden music video.
All in all, this DVD is definitely worth it to the Chapman fan, especially one interested in this final chapter of his life.
The Art of Ventriloquism (1979)
An interesting look into this esoteric art form
The look of this show is definitely cheap, but the subject matter was interesting. Basically the host interviewed two ventriloquists and a 'vent' figure dealer.
The two ventriloquists were Stan Burns and Dan Ritchard. Both men were good, professional ventriloquists who supplied good personalities for their respective dummies.
In the first major segment, Stan Burns discussed a brief history of ventriloquism while photographs of old-time ventriloquists, such as the Great Lester, were shown on-screen.
In the next segment, the dealer, George Schindler, showed off some interesting and varied figures and did some ventriloquism himself with a rabbit figure.
In the last segment, Mr. Ritchard demonstrated various trick voices that ventriloquists use with the help of his dummy, Conrad, a large parrot-like figure; of these, the telephone voice was particularly effective.
Near the end of the show, Burns had a figure who operated his own figure that was interesting.
Not mentioned on the show is the fact that all three men have written books about ventriloquism since the show's original broadcast.
Again, not the greatest production values, but an interesting show about a rarely-examined subject.