Doug Stanhope: Beer Hall Putsch

Stanhope's comedy is like that dog that just lives on your street where sometimes its nice and some times its mean and will bite you or lick you inappropriately. Despite this you still love that dog even though seeing it in the rain or snow will make you sad. You know that one day you will ultimately have to take a rock and smash in the dogs head for raping a 32 year old football player, but you want to attemp to enjoy its company while it lasts.

The bit where he jovially talks about assisting with his mother's suicide is one of the all-time greatest moments in stand-up comedy history. Stanhope, regardless of his hackneyed social commentary and pedestrian political views, works best as a disguised self-destructive misanthrope catering to like minded people that want to see the world burn while caressing a kitten in the company of a select few loved ones. When he's on, he's unstoppable.

After seeing his Olso stint, I feared that we had lost one of the greatest stand up comedians of our time to depression and apathy. Luckily he's back on form, in a sense darker and more grotesque than ever. But even the account of assisting his mother's suicide, cannot hide the fact that Stanhope is as much a philosopher as he is a funny man and sometimes the horrible truth really is best told by the drunk.

Not as laugh-out-loud hilarious as his others, but definitely his most compelling tirade put to video. Stanhope is as loud and crass as ever, but his warped routine's serious, disturbing undertones have taken center stage. There are several bits that will leave you confused as to whether you should laugh or stare, mouth agape with morbid fascination, particularly the bit about his mother's suicide. It's surely one of the greatest bits in stand-up, though I doubt it will make many laugh.

Stanhope is hilarious.

My first Doug Stanhope special, and now I am a fan. The show starts in a simple way, he seemed like a regular comic at first. But then he got darker. And then he told a story about mom's suicide, which was one of the more fucked up things I heard lately. After that, he started making sense about 'occupy' movement, actually changing the world for the better, gays (that long football story reminded me of a buddy of mine who goes into graphic stuff like that like all the time).

Hit and miss Stanhope, with the highs (drink to have a good time, the occupy movement, charity sponsorship) offset by some under-par material elsewhere. He attacks the right targets for the right reasons but often comes short on the biting wit we've come to expect from the man, whilst meandering too long on certain subjects (the gay rape sequence in particular is possibly the most tedious and unfunny thing he's ever done). Not bad by any means: I just have high expectations for this comedian.

Not a bad effort, but more of the same from Doug.

He may be getting sloppier in his drink-addled old age, but at least he's joking about that too. He's also joking about the suicide party he threw for his mom (true story), so god bless the American stand-up comedy scene for having someone like him. And the footballer rape gag was just too funny.

Stanhope's most accomplished work yet - any fan of quality stand-up should see this