Jonny Vegas has become acclimatised to the high life and has lost touch with his audience and his humour. Celebrity fixer Tony Kanna kidnaps Jonny and subjects him to humiliating performances in order to reconnect Jonny with his audience.
Jonny Vegas is not a great actor. Most of the film seems completely improvised, but, while this was probably very cool to perform, on film it comes across very unpolished and some of the time, they seem to be talking just to carry on the conversation rather than to actually say anything. Tony Kanna and Angelo are very one dimensional characters and have only a couple of interesting moments. Sometimes you wish they'd stop hitting poor Jonny Vegas and get on with the next scene. Lads, if the improv scene breaks down, don't just resort to hitting the main character with a chair. It's not always his fault.
I admire Stewart Lee as a very talented man, and I can imagine that perhaps the film would have been worse without his direction, but I have no proof of that, so can only shake my head and tut. I think I'd have made them write their lines out first, Stewart. Maybe ruin the improv, but maybe stop them slapping Johnny up when it all goes wrong.
However Johnny Vegas is a great stand-up, and the parts of the film where he is on stage are extremely funny.
The extras are what make this DVD amazing. There are outtakes, where Tony Kanna (I don't know his real name) talks about himself and says some genuinely hilarious stuff, and there are two stand-up sets by Johnny, the second of which 'tough crowd' I've been playing to everyone who visits my house.
In short, the film is uninspired and slow, but the DVD extras are great!
Jonny Vegas is not a great actor. Most of the film seems completely improvised, but, while this was probably very cool to perform, on film it comes across very unpolished and some of the time, they seem to be talking just to carry on the conversation rather than to actually say anything. Tony Kanna and Angelo are very one dimensional characters and have only a couple of interesting moments. Sometimes you wish they'd stop hitting poor Jonny Vegas and get on with the next scene. Lads, if the improv scene breaks down, don't just resort to hitting the main character with a chair. It's not always his fault.
I admire Stewart Lee as a very talented man, and I can imagine that perhaps the film would have been worse without his direction, but I have no proof of that, so can only shake my head and tut. I think I'd have made them write their lines out first, Stewart. Maybe ruin the improv, but maybe stop them slapping Johnny up when it all goes wrong.
However Johnny Vegas is a great stand-up, and the parts of the film where he is on stage are extremely funny.
The extras are what make this DVD amazing. There are outtakes, where Tony Kanna (I don't know his real name) talks about himself and says some genuinely hilarious stuff, and there are two stand-up sets by Johnny, the second of which 'tough crowd' I've been playing to everyone who visits my house.
In short, the film is uninspired and slow, but the DVD extras are great!