With his first Comedy Central full-length special entitled, Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted?, Nick has hit a major milestone in his career as a stand-up comedian. Seriously, Who Farted? on DVD is a minute shy of an hour long, including over 15 minutes of material that was never seen on Comedy Central.
The DVD's box and the menus are stylized with 50's and 60's style photos of Nick Swardson partying with three girls. We're talking alcohol, cigarettes and white lines of some sort of powder. The music during the DVD's intro is Pitbull's Hotel Room.
Vices play heavily into Swardson's shtick, opening the show with an homage to how much he loves to drink, followed later with two routines about marijuana, with a few jokes and bits about dubious sexual encounters, including one with a 70-ish woman in a massage parlor. This is not one to share with the kiddies. However, Nick Swardson has a great delivery and I found myself at least grinning the whole way through; at times I was laughing out loud.
There aren't many special features, but a couple of them were enjoyable. For those who are familiar with Swardson's "Terry" character from Reno 911, there is an included special feature done in the style of a Christmas album commercial, called "A Very Terry Christmas." 28 Drinks Later is a fake movie trailer that spoofs 28 Days Later to give a gimps at the "alcoholiclypse." I found this one entertaining, especially the chilling part with a child singing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" right before the jump scare ending. Awesome. I didn't really get Nick Swardson: Timeless Comedian, other than the fact that it was a mockumentary that puts Nick Swardson as starting back in the 20's. Fake footage of performances from the 20's, 50's and 60's are part of this feature. Sadly, he claims to have been struggling back in those times and, to support this idea, there aren't any funny gags from these "older" clips. Sometimes comedians do a bit where they intentionally aren't funny... to be funny. You see, the funny part is that they're comedians, yet they're not being funny. Even the best comedians have done this from time to time... Steve Martin does it quite well at times. However, most of the time, it tends to be... just "not funny."
Also included as a special feature is a recording of the act that opened for Nick Swardson at the show during which his Comedy Central special was recorded: Beardo & Dirt Nasty. I watched it. I failed to see the appeal. Period. I've been to an opening act that was as bad as this, but it was for a Frontalot show in Baton Rouge, at a really small venue with an audience smaller than most third grade homerooms. We could have all fit on a single bus. Comfortably. How an act of such questionable skill could ever wind up in front of such a large audience is beyond me. How they made it on the DVD is unfathomable. If you are a fan of Beardo or Dirt Nasty, I'm sorry. I'm more sorry if you're the fan's neighbor and have this thrust upon you.
Overlooking the Beardo and Dirt Nasty debacle, the comedy isn't half bad. I still much prefer Nick Swardon's comedic acting, but it's interesting to see the differences between a comedian's acting and their stand-up performances. If you're a fan of Nick Swardson (or, for that matter, Beardo or Dirt Nasty), I highly recommend adding this to your collection. Others should probably rent it first.
