Jan Gintberg: Op på fars Jihad

Before I write this review, I want to make clear that I did enjoy this show and I do not regret watching it... but I am afraid I don't regret not giving it my full attention, either. The warm-up with Omar Marzouk(who, in spite of the tag-line, is not terribly present in the show) was surprisingly good... my general perception of the man is that, while a fine performer and fairly witty, he's very one-note in his jokes, being an ethnic minority; his material rarely goes beyond "*this* part of being a Muslim is funny, because(...)". I have no real problem with that, but I feel that humor should be diverse, and I somewhat seldom find him entertaining. All kinds of comedians and entertainers deserve a chance to perform, he's just not one I take particular enjoyment from watching... at least not usually. The exception proves the rule, as they say; his presence steals the show, and in the brief period of time he spends on stage, there barely passes a moment without the audience laughing at yet another clever and well-delivered observation. Oh, if only the same were true of the rest of the show. Running at just about two hours, this show is neither overlong nor too short. Jan is manic and loud as usual, and some of the material is nothing short of hysterically funny. There just seems to be too much of the crude humor that he seems to be fond of at times. Personally, I feel he's at his best when he has little or nothing of aforementioned style of comedy in his show. The show has relatively few jokes about the Middle East, as surprising as that may seem, given the title. Most of them are funny, though. The rest of the show consists of Gintberg making fun of, well, just about everything. As usual, he picks on bikers and body-builders, and he doesn't seem to be too fond of the new government, either(but who can blame him?). He jokes about Catholicism, Ikea and a reality show or two. He's in fine shape as far as the delivery goes, with the intellectual, word-heavy rants and visual impressions, both of which garner many (well-deserved) laughs. The DVD has some special features(most of which are in no way memorable, as is sadly also the case with the stand-up), including a 'comics commentary', with Marzouk and Gintberg, which is interesting to listen to, and works well as proof that Jan, in fact, *can* talk at a normal rate and volume(and apparently also sit or stand still, as it would presumably take to record a commentary for a DVD), something many who see him perform would no doubt have an incredibly difficult time believing. All in all, this is worth watching, though I would advise that you try to see this for free before purchasing, unless you are an absolutely huge(not necessarily physically, though I can't for certain say that it would hurt) fan of Jan Gintberg(though I would consider myself to be, or at least close to, though I by far prefer Anders 'Anden' Matthesen). I recommend this to fans of Jan and Omar and people who enjoy crude humor and/or jokes about, as the title alludes to, jokes regarding Islam. 6/10

My only advice to any prospective viewers is to turn off after Omar Marzouk has delivered his warm-up.

Sadly the rest of the show consists of lavatory-style jokes ... It is really sad because I have seen Jan Gintberg do a lot of good comedy, but this show is not in any way up to his usual standards. If they had kept the form from the warm-up I would have given it an 8 or maybe a 9. Considering that, I think my rating says a lot about (my opinion of) the rest of the show.

2/10.

By the way: Feel free to disagree, after all: Humor is a very strange fish.