Plot: What’s it about?
I don’t really know where Dave Attell came from, but he, like so many other comics, is pretty funny and someone that the “mere mortal” can relate to. Granted, I find Dennis Miller to be one of the funniest men on the face of the planet, but even I find myself scratching my head trying to correlate the levels and levels of his sarcasm. This isn’t the case with Mr. Attell. Evidently Dave Attell has a sleeping problem (or a drinking problem, but we’ll tackle that a bit later) as the name of his show is called “Insomniac”. Like Jon Stewart, Craig Kilborn, Ben Stiller and so many others, Attell is a stand up comic but he’s seemed to find his niche with the more party-going crowd and hanging out at bars until the wee hours of the morning (the show ends when the sun comes up). But the show isn’t just him ending up hammered talking to some unattractive woman in a bar (though it does happen). Instead, he does incorporate some pretty diverse “skits” into the course of the show that seem to fit with the different locales that he’s in. This brings me to another point, he travels from city to city doing essentially the same thing; soaking up the local culture and downing a few (dozen) drinks in the process. So what’s wrong with that?
The show has less to do with insomnia and more with seeing someone on the screen and telling yourself that your drinking is a little less raging. Really. To be fair though, there are some pretty colorful characters (who are real people) that he ends up talking to (the female bull rider, the women in the Chicago hot dog bar who cuss at their customers and the hooker with one tooth just to name a few). Dave Attell is a real man and a comic at that, he deprecates himself “…I look like Andre Agassi with a drinking problem…” he says; and evidently doesn’t want to leave the life that most of us have in college and into our early thirties (or until our better half won’t let us go out anymore). The real variety of the show is the different scenery that accommodates the show. Attell, a native New Yorker (the season ends with him finally going back to his apartment), seems very out of place in Houston, but right at home in Chicago and New Orleans. This won’t change your life, but it’s an insight into so many other people’s life that it can’t help but be somewhat interesting. He does what all of us have either done or try to do (get drunk and hit on women); he just does it ever week in a different town. Though a famous comic, it was interesting to see that some people didn’t really know who he was. Still, in the days of reality television, any man being followed around by a camera crew is intriguing to most people and this show documents that perfectly.
Video: How does it look?
Insomniac is presented in it’s original full-frame aspect ratio as it appears on Comedy Central every week (during the season, of course). For the most part, the image is crystal clear and there aren’t that many things to complain about. The video work is all hand held as the crew just follows him around from bar to bar and locale to locale, so the normal problems arise with the image (out of focus, fuzzy, etc.). There isn’t a whole lot of artifacting or edge enhancement per se, but with any video-based source (as opposed to film), it looks a lot better on DVD than on broadcast television. But let’s face it, if you’re watching this for the video quality then you’re watching it for all the wrong reasons. No major complaints here as it looks pretty darn good.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio, like the video, is no major accomplishment here. Parts are hard to hear as in a crowded bar, well, there’s a lot of “other” noise going on. The show is set up, though, with guests and though it’s on location, the dialogue is fairly understandable. A Dolby Surround mix is all that’s used (and needed) here and don’t expect it to blow the lid off your system, because it won’t. Quite frankly it represents the soundtrack very accurately, just as it does when it airs. Again, no complaints here and viewers will be more than satisfied with the way it sounds on DVD.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Though no extras are included, I can only imagine how funny a few commentary tracks would be with Attell (assuming he could remember what happened). Possibly some deleted scenes too, as I’m sure a lot of interesting material is on the cutting room floor. Alas, that’s not the case and maybe for Volume Two they’ll add some supplemental material.
