The Charge

"Not politically correct. Just correct."—Ralphie May

Opening Statement

For approximately an hour, Ralphie May entertains an audience with his unilateral dissection of the cultural landscape of America with some very funny fat jokes to boot.

Facts of the Case

From the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, Ralphie May manages to both entertain and slice away at our overly sensitive façades.

The Evidence

It's difficult to review a comedy performance without quoting jokes or just writing "it's funny." But Ralphie May knows funny.

I've always believed the best and most honest comedy at heart has to be critical and angry. May, while not an overly angry man, comes across as annoyed with the hypocrisy of political correctness and how it has infected our society. Even those typically insulted by May would find it hard not to laugh at his stances. No race, gender, sexual orientation, or weight class is ignored.

I laughed hard. In fact, I laughed so hard I teared. There were moments where a bit may have dragged on too long, but May shows to build and deliver a well-sculpted joke. What I appreciated was May's ability to take a joke one step further than expected, illustrated wonderfully by his rant about Black History Month. While he resorted to an easy laugh with self-deprecation once, everything else he said was comedy gold. May is clearly at his best when he's most annoyed.

The stand-up act is presented as expected. I did notice some slight motion blur on close-ups of May when he moved, but saw no other visual problems during the main presentation. No subtitles or additional audio tracks were included.

Bonus features include a video diary of May's trip to Iraq. The camera movement was jarring at times and closer to a home movie than a professional video diary. The audio was very poor making it hard to understand what was said. Additionally, the bonus footage of the May Meeting and Greeting the Troops suffered from the same audio drawbacks. Also included were Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor. Since these scenes are strung together completely out of context, a couple of bits were extended rants that didn't make a whole lot of sense. The rest of it features May dealing with a loud audience member, technical problems, and a couple of extraneous jokes that did not add anything to his over performance.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

This DVD is not for the overly sensitive or even the remotely sensitive. May pokes fun at just about everyone and isn't shy to play blue. Those afraid or who dislike vulgarity should stay away.

Closing Statement

Just Correct is just dandy. It's a nice rental for a humorous dose of reality.

The Verdict

Ralphie May is ordered to serve six months of community service and must perform more stand-up.

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