"What a swellegant, elegant, party this is!" Coleen! <3
"What a swellegant, elegant, party this is!" Coleen! <3
Member since:28.05.2007
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People have their Guilty Pleasures – it's our way of keeping secrets without having to withhold any important or life changing information (in most cases!). Some people use sugary foods as a guilty pleasures, others a saucy romance novel. Me? It's Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It's a show I have loved for as long as I can remember and eve though I am past the age of the target audience I still love watching it. I think one of the main reasons for the show's greatness is the strength of the acting. One of the main characters, Aunt Hilda, is played by a fantastic woman known as Caroline Rhea. Only recently did I discover that the Canadian actress was huge with stand up comedy. When I found out that I could watch her act on DVD, I was ecstatic and bought it straight away.
'One Night Stand' is the DVD showing Caroline's performance on HBO (Home Box Office). All the greatest American comedians get a chance to perform on HBO Comedy. Caroline had an entire DVD dedicated to her act, so I imagined she must have been wonderful. I had watched videos of The Caroline Rhea Show on Youtube (if you get a chance, watch the one where she, Beth Broderick and Melissa Joan Hart are reunited, its amazing!) and she definitely made me laugh! Though I had no idea what her stand up would be like, and only time would tell...
I had ordered my DVD from Amazon.com, the American site, and it took just under a fortnight for it to arrive. As soon as it did I tore off the bubble wrap envelope and studied the case. On the front there was an amazing picture of Caroline on the front with a pink tint over it, and two smaller images to the side. On the back there were a few more images and screen shots, with a little description about the DVD. It was so colourful and magical, I simply had to watch it there and then!
Now the main problem with One Night Stand is that it has
not been released in the UK. I had to get a USA import, which meant it was region 1. I had to change my laptop to region one, and I am only allowed to alter the settings a maximum of four times, which means once I have watched it a few times I will never be able to watch it again..unless I rip it to my laptop and hope for the best. Nonetheless I was desperate to see this so changed my settings from region 2 to region 1 and prepared myself for amazement.
When the DVD started up, I was given two options: Play, and Special Features. I had no idea there were special features so it was something I was looking forward to! But first I went straight to Play. As it starts up we can see a room filled with people, and an overhead announces Caroline Rhea. As she walks to the microphone I saw she was dressed in light blue jeans, with a white low cut top and pink cardigan. This relaxed dress emphasises the calmness and informal atmosphere she creates as soon as she owned the stage. Straight away I knew this was going to be very, very funny...
The stand up lasts for just thirty minutes but in such a small space of time we witness so many hilarious lines and anecdotes. There are so many I could not possibly tell them all. Besides that would spoil the fun of watching it for you! Though there were a few that stood out for me that I would like to share with you. At the beginning, one of her first laughs come from her imitation of her boyfriend when he stores in bed. The joke lasts for around five minutes and and ends hilariously, “I had to call 911...first thing in the morning!”. It may not make much sense from that, but if you watch the rest of the story, it really is hilarious!
There is another where she talks about when her God-daughter came running through to the room after she caught her father in the shower. She imitates, ““Mommy, daddy has a tail”. And Caroline's reply? “Is it a big tail?”. I couldn't stop laughing at that one!
Caroline talks about the time she was going to a pig roast, and what she said was totally unexpected! “Maybe I was naïve, but I thought it was going to be a bunch of animals making fun of a pig...Who builds a house out of straw? You've done nothing since Charlotte's Web! You're a pig, you're Kevin Bacon, you're finished!” You need to hear her voice to truly get the comedy but it really is hysterical!
One thing I love about Caroline is that she is very confident in her body. She is quite curvy and I love how proud of it she is! One of her stories relate to her weight, and its very funny indeed! “I was talking to my best friend on the phone, and we were laughing, and then she hung up on me! So I called her back,'You hung up on me!'. 'No I didn't you hung up on me!''No I didn't hahaha...hello?'. And then it was that horrible realisation that my own fat face had hung up the phone!” It's one I have found myself watching over and over again as I love it that much!
There are two other jokes and lines that had me in hysterics for what felt like hours. One of which involves sweet and innocent film Sound of Music. She talks about how Maria turns to one of the sisters and says “I just cant face it!” and then the Sister replies “What is it, you c*nt face?”. Now naturally I am sure the script says “cant face?” but with the accent and Caroline's imitation, it is one of the most amusing, hilarious things I've ever heard! Now I haven't seen the film but that specific moment can be found on Youtube and is well worth a watch!
The final bit I love is the very final joke and I don't want to give it all away, but it involves Caroline's trip to the zoo, when a monkey decides to lock eyes with her and masturbate wildly. Her imitations of the creature alone are crazy, and the noises that come out of her mouth will split your sides! It is definitely one of my favourites!
That is just some of the hilarity in the show, but there is so much more to laugh at and to be amused by. And then there's the Special Features! The first when you click on is Caroline's Woman of the Night performance, another stand up of hers, this time eight minutes long. I cannot find a date for this but by the looks of her, it would seem it was during Season Four of Sabrina, so around nine years ago. She is just as funny in this as the main performance!
The second and final special feature is an interview with Caroline. She is so relaxed when she is being grilled, and her answers to questions such as “describe your show”, “What was your day job?” and “Why do you love stand up?” are all hysterical. She tells a few more cute little anecdotes during this and every word that springs from her lively mouth is exciting and laughable!
That section lasts for nine minutes, bringing the entire DVD length to just short of fifty minutes. Now almost an hour of Caroline Rhea may seem like a lot, but I feel it is just not enough! I could listen to her stand up all day, and have whilst writing this review watched One Night Stand three times in a row! It is definitely one of the most hysterical things...ever!
Now I paid £8 for this from Amazon, and I think that is a wonderful price, especially considering it had to be imported! I suppose if it was just a random comedian I might not have paid that much, but for Caroline, it is ideal! I just wish there were more DVDs of her comedy available. Her comic timing is perfect and her stories are never dull. I think if you are a fan of her already then you will find this extremely amusing. However if you are new to her work then you are still bound to laugh along with the audience, who give her a standing ovation at the end of her act! Yes, she really was that good!
I don't think I've laughed this hard in such a long time, but thanks to Caroline I have a bag of laughter right on one disc. It is an amazing price and is perfect to keep you smiling and entertained for hours on end as you watch and rewatch! It is definitely worth the money, and definitely worth the pain in your splitting sides! Caroline, I thank you!
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
![One Night Stand: Caroline Rhea [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/81441763.jpg "One Night Stand: Caroline Rhea [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]")
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