Hello everybody, I'm writing a review on this Box Set by Lee Evans! My Grandfather bought it for me because it was going cheap in a shop in the High Street. I'd previously bought Lee Evans 2005 XL Tour Live for my flat mate for Christmas. I watched it on Xmas day with him and was hooked! I let my Grandfather borrow it, he was hooked, then let my Parent's borrow it, they were hooked and thus starting a Lee Evans revolution within my family!
It was a stroke of luck that my Grandfather was in the high street and saw this DVD Box Set in passing whilst searching for something else. He bought it, it was 19.99 GBP instead of the 39.99 GBP recommended retail price. (The new box set was coming out with the new XL DVD in it!) He bought it, and I've been watching them non-stop ever since. He did theorectically buy it for himself but since lending it to me, he hasn't had a chance to actually watch it himself! (Oooops - Sorry Gramps!) I also have absolutely no intention of giving it back - ha ha!

I'll start with giving you some background information on the fantastic Mr Lee Evans!

He was born in Avonmouth, England on the 25th February 1964, making him 43 this year but by his manic routine on stage, you would never believe it!
He comes from a family of entertainers, his father Dave Evans still performs in clubs and pier ends.
After a short spell as a boxer, and two years at an Art School in Essex, Lee decided to follow in his fathers footsteps. The first four years of this spent touring working mens clubs and then five years on what become the alternative comedy circuit, gaining a regular weekly spot at London's Comedy Store.
His big break came in 1993, when he took the Edinburgh Festival by storm and won the coveted Perrier Award. Also, in 1993, he achieve his life-long ambition of performing for two nights at the London Palladium and the two nights being a complete sell-out!!
Since then, he has become established as one of Britain's best-loved and best-known comedians, appearing on not only in his own comedy videos, but also in film, on the TV in sitcoms and on the stage. He has starred in well-known films such as:
"There's Something about Mary"
"Funny Bones"
"The Magic Roundabout" (as the voice of Train"
and "Mousehunt" amongst many others.

Now for the DVD's themselves. I'll start with the outside and work my way in.

PACKAGING -
5 DVD's, 5 different tours, 5 different years. All beautifully set in a very bright and eye-catching yellow box with Lee Evans in a hilarious pose on the front. The writing "Lee Evans" is in bright pink and the majority of the rest of the writing is bright red and orange. All very eye-catching, it would be impossible to miss this in a shop!
The back of the box lists the 5 DVD's that are contained within, with no information on them, however, they are written on the back of the individual DVD's themselves.

AGE RATING -
These DVD's are rated as a 12. I wouldn't describe them as particulary offensive, he is incredibly apologetic for anything he may say that could be interpreted as offensive. They do, however, contain a few mild sexual references, maybe even a couple of extreme ones.

DVDs -
There are five DVD's in this box, and they are as follows:

1994 - LEE EVANS Live at Her Majesty's Theatre.
1995 - LEE EVANS Live From The West End.
1996 - LEE EVANS Different Planet Tour.
1998 - LEE EVANS Live In Scotland.
2002 - LEE EVANS Wired & Wonderful.

I'm not going to give too much information away, as obviously I would love you to experience these yourselves! I'll give you a brief rundown of the content and let you make your own minds up if you decide to watch them!

1994 LEE EVANS LIVE AT HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE
This is one hour and one minute long, and you notice in this how young Lee Evans looks. He's only 30 years old. It's set in Her Majesty's theatre which is a fairly small theatre, and a small-ish stage.
This starts with some up-beat music and Lee Evans walking onto the stage holding a briefcase and a vinyl record. He sets it down on a table and starts playing the vinyl, which you soon realise is a step-by-step guide on "How to be a comic" Lee follows all the steps in this, walking, talking, body language etc. and it's a hilarious little routine which had myself and the audience laughing our heads off! This introduction lasts for 8 minutes, which some people may feel is a tad long for an intro but I found that it fitted in perfectly!
He does the usual gags, the microphone not being turned on, etc. and then moves on to his routine. He interacts a lot with the audience, taking the "mickey" out fo people needing to get up and go to the toilet, asking their names, where they come from etc. And it's amazing to see that he appears to genuinely want to get to know all of the individual members of the audience!
He goes on to a series of hilarious gags, for example, how designer clothes are getting more and more rediculously looking yet more expensive, how bad the British weather is, and how "rubbish" the British people are with sport! This list could be endless, but obviously I don't want to give it all away!
It ends with him walking off and then coming back to do a few more gags, which I loved, because I genuinely didn't want the DVD to end. He does the big thank you, to the audience and the people behind the music, sounds, lighting etc and then walks off, to the same music and the ending of "How to be a comic"
Very funny, 10/10 for gags! There's a couple of extra's on this DVD, nothing too spectacular, just the chapters list and a thank you letter from Lee, thanking his fans for buying this DVD. A lovely personal touch I thought!

1995 LEE EVANS LIVE FORM THE WEST END

This one is set in the West End, which theatre exactly, I'm not sure. This is also set with a backdrop of gold drapes and a fairly small theatre and stage. It's one hour, six minutes long.
It starts with him walking the streets of the West End wearing a Trilby and a long black coat and a bag casually tossed over his shoulder. As he's walking along, you hear press clips of presenters and suchlike commenting on his fabulous career, as though he's remembering.
Then he enters the stage, a black stage and a single white spotlight. A noise over the tannoy system explains that the spotlight operative has lost his glasses and that Lee needs to make a noise to tell the operative exactly where he is on the stage. This opens up a hilarious sketch of Lee frantically trying to get the operatives attention whilst a member of the audience gains the spotlight by coughing, opening a bag of crisps, "farting" and such like. It's hilarious!
He then goes on to do his routine. One of my favourite parts of this, being a smoker, is when he is explaining about nicorette patches. He tells you to put a patch over each eye, then you "can't find your fags!" He also comments on the additives within certain foods, beverages etc. And "what is the point of non-alcoholic beer?"
This ends with a "Bohemiam Rhapsody" This won't make sense until you watch it. And I'm not going to explain because I really don't want to give it away. You've probably heard of this routine if you've ever heard anything about him!!
The extras on this DVD are the chapter list, and once again - Lee's Letter of thanks!

1996 LEE EVANS DIFFERENT PLANET TOUR

The beginning of this DVD explains how Lee Evans and the crew opened the Different Planet Tour on the 8th February 1996 in The Lyric Theatre in London's West End. This is a tiny stage, but it has a big audience. He enters via some stairs at the back of the stage situated between two sets of neon light either side saying "Lee Evans" As he's walking down the stairs, he mimics falling through them. The curtain then comes down in front of this, and it is the backdrop for the majority of the DVD. It's a burgandy curtain with lights forming a blood-red heart in the middle of them. At the beginnig of the routine, there's a fuss with the microphone deliberately folding down in to the floor and Lee Evans bending back and forth to try and talk into it. This then turns into two shrinking microphones and he pretends to be a bingo caller.
We then have the hilarious gags and jokes that he is renouned for! Some of which include being on medication, learning to tie his shoelaces, even though he's wearing slip ons etc. I can't possibly convey how funny this DVD is so please don't be put off if my review seems a bit flat, because this box set is definately not!
This one is one hour and seventeen minutes long and ends with a song on the piano. A lot of his DVD's ends with one of his own songs, that he always plays on the piano. He has a very good voice, and I'm hoping he will bring out a CD of his music, because they are hilarious, and his voice is really good.
The extras on this DVD are agin, chapter list and Lee's letter.

1998 LEE EVANS LIVE IN SCOTLAND

This DVD is one hour and thirteen minutes long and has the extras, once again, chapter list and Lee's Letter.
This starts with the "Lee Evan's trio" or rather, Lee Evan's playing the "air drums" "air double bass" and "air piano" It is fantastic, and I guarantee you'll marvel and his energy during this sketch! He even pretends to get his fingers stuck in the double bass, and tune the piano!
This set is a tartan curtain for a backdrop, which lifts and is set as a kilt with the sporran at the top. The curtains open to a black backdrop with tiny white lights. He later uses this lights later on in the DVD as a prop and pretends they are stars!!! It's a massive stage and a huge audience! The gags in this include how dumb animals are. This isn't meant in a nasty way, and the way he does the sketch, suggests that he loves animals. He goes on about how whales and dolphins are stupid because they keep getting stuck on the beach. He explains his hate of gameshows on the TV and how he loves documentaries.
This ends, once again, with a song. It's about suicide, but despite what you'd expect, it's actually really funny.
Again, in this DVD the extras are chapter list and Lee's Letter! The extra's on these DVD's are not spectacular, but for a guy as funny as this, you really don't need them!

2002 LEE EVANS WIRED & WONDERFUL LIVE AT WEMBLEY

This DVD has more extras on! Not only is there the usual chapter list, but there's that Bohemiam Rhapsody sketch I went on about earlier, and also an access all areas section as well, which takes you backstage to find more out about Lee Evan's and what goes into the making of these shows. I found this piece particulary enjoyable!
Being Wembley, you'd expect this to be fabulous and it is! A massive audience and an huge stage! The backdrop is red and blue vertical strips of lights. Very bright and very eye-catching! Also, being Wembley, there's the big screens behind him!
I think this is definately one of the best in the box set! This is also the longest, being one hour and fifty-five minutes long.

CONCLUSION

One thing you notice about these DVD's is the amount of energy this man has. Being in his 30's/40's, this man has more energy and runs around the stage more than any young child! And because of this, you will also notice that he sweats more than any other guy in living history!!!!!!! There's always a towel nearby that he needs to use to wipe his face every five minutes!
It doesn't matter where in the country Lee is doing his latest tour, you will see that occasionally throughout the DVD, he takes on the accent. For example, in the Scotland DVD, he takes on the Scottish accent.
He always wears a suit with a brightly coloured shirt, tie and socks!
Throughout these DVDs which span over 8 years, you notice how he grows, not only physically, but mentally as well. You see him develop and how this has an impact on the sketches he does, and the gags he uses. For example, you learn about his family - his wife and his young daughter, who he is very obviously devoted to!
He never uses the same gag more than once, or very, very rarely. It is amazing because the content is always so brilliant and flows so easily. He's never racist or nasty, which is good because I've found a few comedians who are constantly crude, racist, nasty, etc and I don't think there is any need for it. Obviously Lee has his moments, he talks about his wife a lot, but not in a sexist way, but just comparing how men & women do things differently and think about things differently. It's enjoyable to watch from both sexes, my hubbie enjoys it just as much as I do, if not more. Everything he talks about are real life situations, positions we are faced with everyday or have thought about at least once in our lives.
Lee uses his stage around him so much, he's never staying in one place, but it's not annoying or distracting, it just fits into the routine perfectly. His facial expressions are so funny, he has a "rubber-face!" The same applies to his limbs, there are always flailing everywhere, but again, it suits the routine.
The thing that amazes me, is the way he can use any object as a prob! Everything, from himself, to his voice, the microphone, towel, everything is used as a prop and it's brilliant and so imaginative. He also has the amazing ability to play multiple characters at once. His voice changes, his body language, it's marvellous! He can play, not only male and female, but kids, dogs, cats and anything else that applies to what he's talking about at that time!
He's obsessed with toilet habits!

He seems genuinely aware of his popularity. It's so sweet. When the audience claps or laughs, he seems so surprised to find that people find him funny and he constantly says that he is so honoured to be where he is right now. The thing is, many famous stars, no matter what profession they are in, say that and you don't believe it. With Lee, he is so genuine, your heart goes out to him. He's so human and grounded. The sort of person that hates the jet-set lifestyle, and feels undeserving of the options that are open to him. The constant appreciation of the audience and the watchers of the DVD makes you appreciate this guy a hell of a lot more. He take the "mickey" out of himself so much, but it's not done in a way that is fishing for compliments, it's just the way he is.

I have a feeling that I've written too much about this, but I'd love to say that I've encouraged somebody else to watch this DVD. He deserves all the fuss and popularity he has been given and is still recieving.

You can get this DVD Box Set for fairly cheap now, due to the new one being released. Keep an eye out and if you see it, give it a go and let me know what you think.
If I could describe Lee Evans routines, I would say slapstick. It does have adult themes running through occasionally, but it's not too often to be considered crude or terrible to watch. He has been compared to Norman Wisdom, and I think he is like him. He even looks like him!

If your a fan of slap-stick comedy, with quick one-liners and surreal observations, give this one a try!
Let me know what you think! xxx