Search - Dane Cook :: Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garden

Please Read Before Your Buy

S. sisemore | Arkansas | 11/14/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Dane Cook - Rough Around The Edges is just that. A very rough sounding recording, especially for someone who is as big a star as Dane is right now. I read on Dane's site where this cd/dvd package was made to be far superior to the thrown together packages of his last 2 offerings. Well, that is a joke in and of itself. The audio quality on the cd portion is horrible. The crowd is louder than him through the biggest part of the album and makes it difficult to hear the show. Also, applause seems to last too long, this is ok on video but should of been edited a little better for audio cd. Next, some of this material has been done already, i.e. the ice cream debacle and the starving kids/Oprah routine. This was performed on Comic Relief 2006 so that was a little disappointing. The show in general is decent with some funny bits like calling his tivo tito. My main gripe with the show is that as soon as it starts to get really good, its over. Recommended only for die hard fans. Now on to the dvd which is essentially the same exact show. The audio seems to fare only slightly better but the picture has a lot of pixelation in it from time to time that can be a little distracting. All in all, for under $10 @ best buy it was worth it for the package but still a little disappointed on the content quality. Go in with your friends or just borrow someone else's copy."

A whole lotta Dane in this small package!

Jacob Colson | Texas | 11/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This material is awesome. I know I heard that Benson's Animal Farm bit on Conan O'Brien, and what an addition to this show. I am kind of glad though that Dane Cook didn't revamp Vicious Circle with a couple of new jokes and same old stuff. Anyways, there's just a couple of bits that fall short just because they go on a bit too long, but everything's still pretty funny here. For added kicks and giggles, included is a DVD of the show itself (just be warned, there are 2 bits/jokes on the CD that are NOT on the live show DVD). Also included is a Video Commentary (yes, you heard me) by Dane Cook himself talking about how a few bits in the show came about and some other useful information about the show in New York and Vicious Circle in Boston. There's also ANOTHER feature that's a 13 minute "Lighting Up the Garden" featurette on the show itself and how it came to be. I know most Dane fans will eat those features up.



The Dane Cook commentary is not a throwaway feature as some might think. It is pretty insightful, and pretty funny too. You'll learn little nuggets about some jokes in the show.



Get the damn CD/DVD already!"

Feels A Bit Off...

Seth Ford | Clearwater, FL USA | 11/14/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost, allow me to start by saying I am a huge Dane Cook fan. I have seen him two times (Once at Tourgasm and once at a separate venue)and both times he was amazing. As you might guess I also own all of his material and what isn't available to purchase I have downloaded and have watched hundreds of times...



So that all said, why give this set three-stars? First, it's short. Compared to any of his other releases this one falls way below par length-wise. It just clocks in at barely over an hour. Comparatively you could say, "His first album 'Harmful if Swallowed' was 59 minutes." You would be right, but when you include the huge amount of featurettes and extras that were included in the dvd portion of the disc, it's well worth it's weight. On 'Rough...' of the total 15 tracks on the cd portion, only 13 of them were put on the dvd. All in all it feels light and a bit rushed.



Now to what matters: Material.



This is easily Dane's weakest standup thusfar. Although the crowd is electric and laughs at every joke he makes, it still doesn't make up for some material that seems like he's trying to stretch a concept way too-far, past the usual point and into something far less funny.



Some of his jokes had me laughing out loud but for the most part it wasn't the same laughter I had on his previous albums. Listening to 'Retaliation' or 'Harmful if Swallowed' the first time through, I was literally brought to tears at how funny, spontaneous, and just completely absurd Dane Cook was when he was in his zone. First and second time through this cd I found myself listening to his stories, patiently waiting for something funny, rather then laughing while he was telling them.



Obviously if you are a DC fan you already own this collection and most of you will probably think it's great. If you haven't heard DC before I recommend starting with 'Harmful if Swallowed' and move up from there. This is a fine intermission in the 'Dane Cook Show' but will most likely not be remembered in the same way his first two legendary albums were."