Film

The World of Lee Evans DVD

Paul Cook 20/12/2006

Rating: 1/5

Lee Evans' new DVD, a collection of sketches, is a fusion of his rather obvious influences: Charlie Chaplin and Frank Spencer and typical Lee Evans style slapstick. Unfortunately it falls at the first hurdle - it's just not funny. I sat watching it for the first half an hour and felt guilty that I wasn't laughing. After an hour I turned it off. I didn't make it to the end.

The slapstick comedy felt dated and the gags were too simple and predictable. Also there's no story, so the entire thing is disjointed and uncomfortable. Similar sketch shows like Catherine Tate, Green Wing and That Mitchell and Webb Look have experienced huge success because of their clever and original skits or their wacky characters and storylines. Comedies like these have a topicality and engage the audience who can relate to what they're watching. Lee Evans' skits are barely understandable let alone relatable, stuck in the nineties when classics were dying out and the new generation hadn't yet spawned.

'The World of Lee Evans' feels like it's been locked away in a box from the mid-nineties and only just been discovered. If this was the case I would suggest you put back, and stepped away from the DVD rack. Lee Evans should stick to stand-up to keep viewers sitting down. Otherwise a lot of people will be disappointed.