' 'The funniest man in America' ' according to Time magazine and Vanity Fair, presents an hour of ' 'riotously funny' ' (Entertainment Weekly) and ' 'breathtakingly provocative' ' (Chicago Sun-Times) outstanding stand-up comedy.

If you want intelligent comedy, this is the video for you! However, be forewarned that Chris Rock has a penchant for using the "f" word when emphasizing points, which some may find annoying after a while, and he is bound to say something that may offend someone. Nonetheless, I think that's what makes Chris Rock great and universal. Although Chris caters to an African-American audience, he ultimately has ideas that speaks to all segments of society- conservatives, liberals, white/black/asian/latino, homosexual, religious, non-religious, etc. A view that one segment of society finds appealing is bound to be held in disdain by another.

I must admit, in the past year that I've become a Chris Rock fan, I've found it difficult to watch other comedians. Few are as hard-hitting as Chris Rock. Get this video to see what I mean! While you are at it, get "Bring the Pain"- this one packs even more punch than "Bigger and Blacker".

14 of 16 found the following review helpful:


Incredible Performance By Chris Rock  Sep 05, 2000 By Dingo Warrior "The Watcher"
This was just an absolute delight to watch. Chris Rock comes at you with topic after topic and always blends everything smoothly together(like the Ricky Martin livin' la vita loca and the robotusim jokes throughout the night). This is a top notch performance from a top notch comedian. Even if you're not a Chris Rock fan you must respect his work on "Bigger & Blacker". His presence on the stage is incredible and his performance is even more spectacular. Chris Rock is a very intelligent comedian that shows you a vision of the world we tend to hide or ignore. After seeing this show so many times I started to ask myself how can he remember and deliever his act so smoothly. It seems like as if Chris Rock is having a regular conversation with the crowd as he performs on stage. Chris tackles enough issues in this show to have everyone (black or white)to relate to the material in some way. There is no doubt about it, this DVD is great and if you didn't see it on HBO or home video then you need to pick up this DVD. The price on this DVD is good but the show itself is great. A Must have for true fans of comedy. ( intellectual or silly )

11 of 13 found the following review helpful:


Sharp Views on Various Human Conditions...  Apr 11, 2005 By drefractor
What makes you laugh? "Bigger and Blacker" dishes out the following:

1) Profanity -- quite a bit of it. If you laugh at the mere thought or sound of profanity, buy this DVD. But in reality, the raw language is irrelevant. Watch the intensity of the delivery and pay attention to the ideas surrounding the "bad" words.

2) Social/Political Commentary from one man's perspective -- A LOT of it.

Chris Rock, as he continually states either directly or indirectly, is a "law and order conservative" (well, mostly order!) and a "moral" liberal. His moral liberalism is a bit extreme for most people, but it is refreshingly consistent and counterbalances the traditional notion of "liberal" tolerance with the libertarian ideal of being accountable for one's actions. Oh, and by the way, there are no victims in Chris Rock's universe. If you dislike "Victim" mentality, you will find it well dismissed here.

3) Social/Racial Commentary from a black man's perspective -- There is a fair amount of this in Bigger and Blacker, but nothing earth shaking. Although he is clearly not pleased to be directly on the negative end of racial profiling, Rock typically redirects his racial commentary into larger themes (violence, hypocrisy, value systems...).

4) About Men and Women -- Who are we, together and apart? These subjects are always fertile ground for comedy. Although he attempts to soften the blows by continued professions of his love for women, Chris's take on women in general is pretty harsh, while not quite so hard, nor as detailed on men. Rock has a clear disdain for absentee fathers, but men get a pass on most of their behaviors -- behaviors that are excused as "understandable" (if not necessarily right) attempts to get around intolerable actions of women. Judging by the apparent reaction of the female members of the audience, Chris puts enough meat on the bones of his contentions to warrant serious contemplation after the laughter.

5) Physical Presence -- Energetic, intense, animated...

6) Limited Exaggerations -- Bigger and Blacker material mostly avoids "over-"exaggeration while its points are being made, and make no mistake, Chris Rock is trying to make a LOT of points (Rock's latest stand-up effort, "Never Scared" drifts more often into realm of over-exaggeration by my account, thus rendering it less enjoyable despite some great ideas).

7) Bonus Points -- A hilarious question is asked about medical science's ability (or lack thereof) to cure major diseases... An observation is given about social security's relevancy to black men... Both of these bonus points strain at the limits of exaggeration, but contain enough weight to make them worthy of an acid laugh or three...

In short, Bigger and Blacker is not light comedy. If you primarily like self- depreciating comedians, Chris Rock is not your man; If you are a diehard of the "left" or "right," he is not your man. If you prefer to believe that the world is generally rosy, he is not your man. If, on the other hand, you enjoy exceptional (almost) equal opportunity skewerings of pretenses and prejudices, it doesn't get much better than "Bigger and Blacker".

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


Better medicine than Robitussin  Aug 26, 2007 By L. Peters "MuscleHead"
The Doug E. Fresh intro perfectly sets the mood for the frantic and energetic Chris Rock. Bigger & Blacker is an HBO production filmed in the Apollo Theater and is brilliant satire from the perspective of an African-American.

Rock lays the smack down on topics such as school violence, gun control, irresponsible parents, neglected fathers, infidelity, bigotry, and the poor state of health care. His assertions are blunt, bold, and are fired from point-blank: "A man is only as faithful as his options", "Men lie but women are much bigger liars", "Blacks and whites have little to complain about, consider the state of Native Americans".

All of Rock's material is solid and most of it is intelligent and thought-provoking. He slips into crudeness only briefly as he suggests that the blind be assigned to midgets instead of seeing-eye dogs and when he mentions his contempt for women that don't provide oral servicing. Also, he picks on white people a little, but it is not really funny like when Richard Pryor teased white people. These minor flaws are certainly not deal breakers.

Rock is providing a solid hour of comedy here. He has a superb rapport with his audience and his delivery is very good overall with only a couple instances of repeating himself or otherwise stalling as he gathers his thoughts. This is an adult show and profanity is used liberally, but not quite what I would consider gratuitously. Overall this is a very good show that all fans of standup comedy, should consider viewing. Chris Rock deserves to go home to the big piece of chicken (inside joke-watch the show).

3 of 3 found the following review helpful:


Chirs Rock - Bigger & Blacker  Mar 29, 2007 By Jeanette Marshall "J. Marshall"
With a Chris Rock Video; I am never disappointed. Loved it!

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