Johnny Vegas: Who's Ready for Ice Cream?

I had seen Johnny interviewed in the series "I Love 1970's". He was quite funny telling the stories about being beaten up by a lightsabre and eating too many packets of Space Dust.

But as a stand up......ugh.

He just talks about something at first, then he gets angry about something else and then starts shouting for no reason.

And people find that funny.

And that's what this feature is all about. Everyone is all shouting and arguing and being really horrible to each other. It's mean spirited and unfunny. Much like "Vaccuming Completely Nude in Paradise", it is just people shouting and getting angry with each other in EVERY BLOODY SCENE!

And the worst part? It never stops.

Yeah.

Also, not a single laugh to be had.

Not one.

Sigh.

As someone who had a fantastic diet of British comedy since childhood, Johnny Vegas and Ricky Gervais are just people I don't get. And I also don't get why people like them.

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!

Johnny Vegas has lost his comedy talent. He's led the high life for too long, and has lost touch with the pain and brazen emotion that previously dominated his act. Enter Kai Rydell: Celebrity Fixer (along with his silent partner), who does Johnny the favour of kidnapping him and forcing him to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in order to 'break him down' and bring back his comic talent.

Johnny Vegas may not be the greatest actor in the world, but it's hardly a demanding part for him. It seems that perhaps he benefits from the improvised script being a stand up comedian by trade, and he interacts well with all of the characters in the film. Incidentally, most of the actor's in this film are friends of Johhny's and appear in many of his show's e.g Tony Pitts (Kai Rydell) who can be seen on Johnny's 18 Stone Of Idiot show dressed as a giant bird.

The most laughs probably come from Tony Burgess (some might recognise him from Vegas's sitcom Ideal) who play's Tony Kenner, a struggling stand up comedian; whose raving's about food are priceless.

I'm a huge fan of Stewart Lee, he constantly writes and directs boundary pushing material, which is exactly what this film is. The camera work in this particular film gives it a 'fly on the wall' feeling, and the snippets of interviews with various people that Johnny Vegas has affected give the sense that he really has become hated within the stand-up community. To add an extra 'documentary' feel to the film; all of the stand up scenes where Johhny performs to an audience were shot at the 'Stand Up' Comedy Club during the Edinburgh Festival. This is a brilliant touch allowing small amounts of the Johnny Vegas that we have grown accustomed to over the years to shine through. What I really liked about this film is that it shows how Stand-Up Comedy DVD's don't always have to be the same. I have a huge collection of Stand-Up but not many go past the simple 'recording of a gig', let alone create an entire storyline. The DVD extra's are also worth a watch, including hilarious outtakes (usually because Vegas can't keep a straight face during his ordeals) and two short Stand Up shows which were shot at the same Comedy Club as in the film.

Overall I find this film to be one of the most surreal feature length comedy's I have ever seen. Before seeing this, I personally was not a huge fan of Johnny Vegas, However after seeing how talented and entertaining he can really be (albeit playing an exaggerated version of himself); I have re-evaluated his standing in my scale of great comedians.

I think this film has been judged unfairly as you either 'get' Vegas or don't. He mines the fringe areas of comedy, like danger and confrontation, to produce challenging and at times unsettling pieces which often have the power to stimulate long after viewing. I believe him to be so successful at what he does (although others have no doubt hit upon this idea earlier) that the he will one day be credited with it's inception(Incidentally I don't pay that much attention to stand up so I'm not a good judge, but big 'Up' to J.V. all the same:-). I believe also that Vegas has a real message in his work, he's reaching the point where he'll be able to make it accessible to everyone. 18 stone of idiot came very close. I'm not being guarded in not telling you the inferences he would appear to be making I simply have a feeling for this but can't put it into words (as this would miss the point somewhat). He is without doubt the genius, history will prove my words true.