Rowan Atkinson Live!

Rowan Atkinson is a marvel of physical, scatological, and intellectual humor, a combination virtually unknown in the world today. This stage show is not generally a rehashing of things seen before (although "It Started With A Sneeze" is taken directly from an episode of "Mr. Bean") but is a unique and original group of works designed to highlight all of Atkinson's amazing comedic talents. My favorite of the skits is "A Warm Welcome" in which Atkinson plays the Devil ("...but you can call me 'Toby'...") welcoming new arrivals. The best line (and the one that got the most laughs) in the show is when he summons "the French" out for special treatment. I am also fond of the amazing physical dexterity involved in "Invisible Man" and "A Final Bash". He is always great as a sadistic straight man, and his portrayal in "Fatal Beatings" is delightful. He returns as another evil headmaster in "No One Called Jones" which also shows his ability to handle more scatological humor with dexterity. For all around amusement, his portrayal as a hammy amateur actor in "Pink Tights And Lots Of Props" is delightful, and went over hugely well in front of a college audience, as you might expect. Five stars without question, although there are a few off color and offensive excesses I could have done without. Noteworthy also is the performance by Angus Deayton, the straight man in the two man sketches. This is a comic tour-de-force, and is not to be missed.

Love this show, BUT... one of the best bits ("No One Called Jones"), which I noted that some reviewers here cited as being on this disc... mine? Not there! This was the main reason bought it!Far to many versions of this that I have found online and elsewhere, oddly, do not include the BEST skit that was in this show. No idea why, but it infuriates me that yet again, I was suckered into buying another INCOMPLETE version of this show!Pissed!

Absolutely hilarious. Captures Atkinson's range beyond Bean and BlackAdder. The school scene is my favorite. 😈

An oldie but still a goodie

Though a concert video, this is much more than a stand-up routine.It's a series of discrete sketches much more akin to Gilda Radner's 1980 GILDA concert than, say, an evening with Bill Cosby or Chris Rock. Unlike GILDA, however, which largely recycled familiar characters from another medium, the material here is entirely original. Indeed, it's so unexpectedly novel that you'll be glad you bought this video, whether you're a rabid Atkinson fan or you've never heard of him.Perhaps more than any other single work of his, this concert video showcases all of Rowan Atkinson's nuanced talents. From the sublime "Welcome to Hell" sketch in which Atkinson has the duty of being a sort of genteel maitre d'-cum-camp-counselor for recently-arrived souls, to the encore sketch in which he wordlessly and near-proplessly makes you believe he's playing an elaborate drum set plagued by a rambunctious cat, Atkinson's range is put fully on display here.A concern for non-Britons is whether they'll really understand the humor. On this score, Atkinson triumphs again, because he's deliberately chosen universal events to build his sketches around. Of the bits on offer, only two might wade in unfamiliar waters. One centers around the nature of being a headmaster at a British public (private) school, and the other deals with the difficulty of staying awake during a church service and may not be fully funny to non-Christians.These possible difficulties aside, Atkinson is far easier to add to your video collection than most comedians, because he deliberately avoids topical humor. Instead, he crafts timeless sketches that will be just as funny 50 years from now as they are today.

My family owned the VHS version of 'Rowan Atkinson Live' several years ago, and it is singularly the best comic act I have ever seen.This is genuinely one of those tapes you can watch over and over and over, and never ever get sick of. I remember how I'd almost memorized a few of the sketches having watched them so many times! (Yeah, it sounds lame, but if you watch this work of art, you'll see just what I'm talking about.)My personal favorite acts are 'Pink Tights and Plenty of Props', 'A Warm Welcome', the Indian restaurant one (I forget the name) and the priest/bestman/father-in-law one (again, I can't remember the name). But really, not one of these acts won't make you fall off your seat laughing; they're all absolute and pure genius. If you still have a VHS tape player in these days of high-end digital media, make it a point to buy this right now.Incidentally, the reason I don't remember the names of so many acts is that I haven't seen this tape in years! Literally about five or six years, since it got lost and VHS became relatively obsolete.People of Amazon, please please PLEASE bring this title out on DVD, for the sake of the general community at large. The reviews for this product are phenomenal, as they should be, and I have no doubt that the DVDs will sell like hotcakes. I for one am in love with Atkinson's genius acts that I haven't seen in years, and will lap it up straightaway.Buy this product.

I want to know why they haven't made this video in region 1? Some of us in the states would love to see this! I have been a Rowan fan for yrs.

Hi, all. This is a fantastic piece of comedy of which I laugh all the way through it. I once saw protions of it along time ago and finally got a copy. But, somethings missing! The SCHOOL ROLE CALL. Anybody know of it, and know were I can get hold of it?

VHS版はよく見て車でも鑑賞したくてDVDを探していて見つけたので購入しましたMr.Beanシリーズはベスト盤で全巻を揃えるほど好きなので見つけた時は嬉しかったですただ、今回のLIVEは舞台と言うこともあって字幕有りきなので日本語字幕が無いのが唯一の-1ですコレばっかりは出品者の責任ではなく販売されてないのでどうにもなりませんが…日本語字幕のも販売して欲しいなと願いを込めての星4です

Atkinson's talent for physical comedy is evident here. This is a live "concert" of sketches where Atkinson demonstrates his talent for subdued comedic acting. He is particularly good at buffoonery. His awkward, inept characterizations are very good. My only complaint is that the show is rather short and I would have liked to see a few more skits.

Contiene alcuni pezzi teatrali di atkinson giovane. Sono un po' battute gia' viste e riprese in seguito, ma e' comunque molto carino da vedere, contiene vari spezzoni di vari spettacoli. L'edizione ricevuta e' francese che include la versione originale inglese ma non i sottotitoli inglesi, solo francesi, l'italiano non c'e'. Lo spettacolo e' quasi tutto parlato, quindi se non parlate francese o inglese lasciate perdere perche' si capisce poco o niente. La qualita' del dvd e' buona ma le riprese sono vecchie e a volte di bassa qualita', non mi sembra un apecca del dvd pero'. Non e' indispensabile per conoscere il comico, prendetelo se vi piace veramente molto, dura circa 60 minuti.

ミスタービーンをリアルタイムで見ていた世代のせいか、この人のコメディがいまだに笑える。この人は役者としても面白いと思った。（映画はイマイチだけど）輸入盤なので字幕がついていないことから、人に貸せないので星１つマイナス。

音声がフランス語のみ。字幕無し。4ー5日で発送と書いてあるが、フランスから送るので1ヶ月はかかる。