Image | 2010 | 64 mins. | NR
Kathleen Madigan has been around for nearly two decades, and is a veteran of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Bob and Tom Show. In 1996, she won the Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic at the American Comedy Awards. Considered by many to be one of the finest stand-up comediennes’ working today, I wondered if her 5-10 minute routines on late night television would translate well to her latest hour long special, Gone Madigan.
Seeing her in this long form special was a bit of a revelation. I always thought she was sort of funny on late night, but I never saw her genius. Given the chance to develop her stories and be uncensored, Madigan really hits her stride in a live show. Madigan’s comedy is fairly observational. She touches on a variety of notable subjects, including Oprah Winfrey, politics, smoking, Hoarders and more. While that stuff is chuckle worthy, things work best when she gets personal. She talks about her Irish upbringing; she was one of seven kids and her father was an attorney fighting insurance claims. She talks about a USO trip to Afghanistan (alongside Kid Rock, Lewis Black and former American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler, who is the target of significant razzing) are some of the best parts in the special.
Watching this special, it’s apparent that Kathleen Madigan’s best asset is her everywoman quality, not particularly glamorous, nor vulgar she seems like someone everyone might know. While it’s pretty clear what end of the political spectrum she falls on, she doesn’t hit the audience over the head with it, and keeps things loose throughout. Madigan has undeniable stage presence and knows how to keep her audience laughing.
There are two special features, a short interview and a longer behind-the-scenes featurette. The behind-the-scenes featurette is less behind-the-scenes and more Kathleen Madigan talking with her family. There are some great moments here and you can see where she gets her sense of humor.
Gone Madigan is presented in Widescreen (1:78:1). The main camera angles focus on a close up of Kathleen Madigan and a full body shot. Lighting is very good, clips are long and editing is not rampant
Picture quality features a good amount of grain. At first I wondered if there was banding coming from the blue curtains but I think that the curtains were probably velvet and reflect the lighting but overall, picture quality for this performance was good.
As for audio, Gone Madigan is presented in 5.1 DD. The soundtrack is primarily center and front channel driven. Audience reaction comes from the front and surrounds, while Kathleen’s performance is heard very well.
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