Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger - London, New York, Johannesburg

For his fifth special (fourth feature-length), Chris Rock does things a little differently. Instead of featuring a single performance in its entirety, Rock has pieced together near-identical performances from Johannesburg, New York and London into one special. The shows are edited together seamlessly with only his wardrobe as the giveaway. While this adds some variety to the performance and speaks to how universal his material is, it does take away a little from the illusion of spontaneity, however negligible that effect may be. Being that this was recorded in 2008, it doesn't take long for Rock to launch into his political material, featuring his thoughts on the forthcoming election, a subject he would return to. John McCain and George W. Bush are easy targets, but still pretty satisfying, and he has some fun with Barack Obama too. After some audacious views about mixed-race relationships, he throws doubt about Isaiah Washington's dismissal from Grey's Anatomy for using a slur for gay people starting with an "F" by saying its use dependent on context, even going so far as to say that it would be fair game in an argument. Curiously, he goes right into a bit questioning white people's use of the "N" word and claiming there would only be one very specific situation in which that would be acceptable. He does this without the slightest hint of irony, sadly. Later, after some astute observations about class disparity, Rock returns to the subject of relationships, his usual closer, but focuses more on bedroom politics than the criticism of women that's become a staple for him. Apart from a couple ill-advised or ignorant remarks, Rock's writing is as strong as its been since his first feature special. He manages to work in some meaty and insightful bits in between some memorable zingers, only made better with his magnetic personality. One imagines the experience would be better if some of his views were as progressive as his approach.

Chris Rock stand-up at its best here. Anyone who wants to pursue a career in comedy or thinks they are a comedian needs to watch this to see how to work a crowd and how to tell a joke. There were some of his jokes that were very poignant and not meant to receive raucous laughter yet his voice and the way he tells them make you laugh.

The parts about the "n word" and "f word" rants were hilarious. And he is absolutely correct regarding the usage of both. If it's in a song, it's okay. If a person is acting bizarrely and you need to call them one, it's okay. It's the context, like Rock says.

This was just classic stand-up here.

Chris Rock has always been my favorite comedian since the 1990s. But "Kill the messenger" ran dry to me. The splicing of shots from his shows in Johannesburg,London,and New York nearly gave me a headache. His comedy routine from the past mainly focused on race relations,relationships,and the difference between rich and poor people. Though most of this show he discuss the up and coming election which his views were funny and somewhat realistic. But the race thing got old and tiring to me. I was like okay Chris you made your point about n***ers time and time again before. I thought the gas price joke was a bit much and crude the way he says "he masturbates before filling up his tank", to relieve his frustration of spending too much money on gas. The relationship and marriage joke/segment were almost similar to his last stand up in "Never Scared" but more raunchier. This stand up special focused mainly on the election and politics and I found some of the stuff he discussed on the topic were hilarious. But after that I didn't find the rest of it all that amusing. Basically it seems like he's paraphrasing what he said in his other specials. Its not what he says that is funny but the expressions he makes after saying it keeps me laughing. That's what makes him so funny,but if he doesn't focus on creating new and refreshing material Chris may lose a good portion of his audience.

At first I thought the poster was like a chart of where Chris Rock had been performing, two of the three places for the first time (London, New York, South Africa... HBO). As it turns out, this is actually the method to the shoot of the show: edited together from three concerts in each of the areas listed, Rock goes through his material and sometimes a bit is inter-cut within an actual sentence (for example, Rock says the point of view from London, then New York, and maybe South Africa here and there). This technique is a little jarring, but only for a short while. Once it becomes part of the actual gig filmed, it's a successfully unique presentation by way of a special that tries something different.

But the real reason to check out Kill the Messenger is because after four HBO specials (there may have been one half hour one I can't recall from the early 90s), Rock hasn't lost it in his timing or killer deconstructive language or point of view that remains barbed and ready to attack just about anyone: white or black, republican or democrat, male and female, job or career, everything is up for grabs and everything he presents is sharp and hysterically funny. And unlike Never Scared, his previous special, his bits on racism here aren't possibly watered down or not quite as sharp; if anything there is a particular bit on the "N" word that is an excellent dozen-years-later companion piece to "Black People Vs N*****", with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hear when a white person can actually say it! It's loaded with insight and wit, from John McCain to Flava Flav to when to use properly contexted words, to just what goes on in a relationship and how difficult it pretty much always is. Bottom line, don't miss it, if you're a fan you're in for a welcome treat, and newbies will get knocked out.

The editor of this special was so consumed with splicing footage and seamlessly meshing shows that he or she, in my opinion, got in the way of the act.

Chris Rock deserves a special focused on Chris Rock the way George Carlin's specials focused only on George Carlin.

This special had too much going on. The editing tangled feet with the punchlines. The outfit changes were jarring, as I found myself missing the jokes because I was too busy saying, "Now he's wearing a shiny jacket," or, "Now he's in Brooklyn." Not to mention the sound quality was noticeably different, especially when jokes were spliced together.

It was all just so unnecessary.

I would like to see Kill The Message from one stage, with one audience. But don't take my word for it. Watch it yourself.