Kathleen Madigan – Gone Madigan
KATHLEEN MADIGAN: GONE MADIGAN (2010)
Featuring Kathleen Madigan and Lewis Black.
Written by Kathleen Madigan.
Directed by Shannon Hartman.
Distributed by Image Entertainment. 64 minutes. Not Rated.
On the back cover of Gone Madigan, Jay Leno calls Kathleen Madigan “One of America’s funniest female comics.”
But don’t hold that against her.
Just because Leno’s comic radar has been questionable for the last couple of decades or so since he took over The Tonight Show, that doesn’t mean that he’s completely clueless as to what is funny and with Kathleen Madigan he is right on target (though that “female” proviso seems like a sort of back-handed compliment).
Kathleen Madigan is a smart, quirky and funny comedienne and Gone Madigan is a damned good stand-up video.
It’s relatively no-frills, no bells and whistles other than an affectionate introduction by Madigan’s mentor, Lewis Black, just a funny woman in a comedy club (well, actually, New York City’s Gramercy Theater) with a stool and a bottle of water riffing for 64 minutes.
Simple. Perfect.
All you need in a stand-up video.
Luckily Madigan is particularly good at her job. She goes off on tangents on everything from Web MD to politics to Oprah Winfrey’s most disappointing shows to visiting a Mormon temple with insight and good humor.
She also shows her irreverent side with a pointed story about a trip to do a USO show for the troops with Kid Rock and Kellie Pickler.
Madigan is always clever and uses pop culture with panache. This would have been a great show to see live. Good thing we can watch it like this.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 11, 2011.