Review: Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Holly..

VINCE VAUGHN'S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2008 David N. Butterworth

*** (out of ****)


In "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights -
Hollywood to the Heartland," the former wedding crasher serves as master
of ceremonies on a whirligig tour of the continental United States.
Said road trip showcases four up-and-coming stand-up comedians, comics
handpicked by Vaughn himself--Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst,
and Sebastian Maniscalco--who perform night after night after night
before (mostly) sold out shows of (mostly) heartily appreciative audiences.

It's Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedian" x 4!

Like the unexpurgated title of Ari ("West Bank Story") Sandel's
documentary clearly states, the troupe hit some 30 American cities in as
many days, starting out in Hollywoodland, crossing the desert and the
great divide, up on through the Texas panhandle and eventually winding
up, spent and exhausted, in the Windy City.

Also along for the ride (sparingly) are "Die Hard" IV's Justin
Long--who does a mean Vince Vaughn impression at one point--and Jon
Favreau, the actor/director who helped steer Vaughn to "greatness" in
"Made." And let's not forget producer Peter Billingsley, best known to
many (as this "Wild West Comedy Show" makes amusingly clear in one
nostalgic segment) as that kid who almost shot his eye out in Bob
Clark's perennial favorite "A Christmas Story." Ralphie hasn't changed
much over the years save for his language, which has become coarser in
keeping with the film's "Restricted"-rating.

But the comics are the thing in VVWWCS (theater marquees are only
so big after all). Each brings his own inimitable style and rabid
personality to the proceedings and the four of them are a rather good
complement. Egyptian-born Ahmed takes full advantage of his ethnicity,
relating stories about how he got busted at the Las Vegas airport simply
for looking like a terrorist; Maniscalco's humor is significantly more
physical, gyrating around on the floor during his Ross Dress for Less
bit; likewise the animated Ernst nails women and gays with surprising
accuracy; and Caparulo, paunchy and self-deprecating, gets good mileage
out of his apparent lack of success with the ladies.

Vaughn himself has his moments, both on stage and off, but the
film's not about him even though it (sometimes) bears his name. It's
about hard work and what it takes to make it in this cutthroat business.
There's little if any footage of the guys partying into the wee hours;
more often than not they're being roused from their beds and wrestled
onto buses at dawn's crack. And it's a learning experience for
everyone: apparently you can make fun of God, but not flip-flops, in the
Golden State.

If nothing else, "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days &
30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland" can be viewed as a public
service. It's a swell-meaning attempt to bring some much-deserved
exposure to a quartet of hard-working individuals in these lean and
often less-than-amusing times.


--
David N. Butterworth
dnb.DeleteThis@dca.net

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