Sometimes the best way to find something to watch is to close your eyes and point. In my case that means closing my eyes, letting my fingers go crazy all over the remote control and let it land somewhere in my Netflix. Every other week, I’m going to randomize my viewing and bring you a title straight out of the Netflix Instant recommendations. They will never be from my queue or recently watched to avoid anything I’d actually want to watch or anything I’ve already seen. Whether they be new films, old TV shows, classics or giant dog turds I’ll watch ’em and pass them along to you! So with that in mind I bring you Random Queue.
This week my randomness has brought me to the stand-up special of Craig Ferguson called Does This Need To Be Said? My previous experiences with the comedian from Scotland are limited to a few clips from “The Late Late Show” which he’s hosted since late 2004 and his time on The Drew Carey Show, but I didn’t know how I would take an entire hour of his stand-up. I’m weird about stand-up performances as I often get bored around the halfway mark, but this time would not be one of those times. Opening with a short musical bit, Ferguson goes on to compare his accent to that of the southern audience as the most widely believed accents that other people think they can do better than the people who actually live there. Touching on topics like the Pope, his marriage, alcoholism, and his past life in bad punk and metal bands I was surprised with how personal and even serious the subject matter of Ferguson’s routine was. Ferguson tells jokes and uses language that, as he puts it, he “can’t use on network TV.” Leading him to comment on the lack of censoring flags and sound bites over his mouth as he speaks, which is the norm on “The Late Late Show.”
With his show in a constant back and forth ratings battle with Jimmy Fallon, I find Ferguson (especially after viewing this special) to be the funnier of the two and hopefully the man to take Letterman’s place whenever that old codger decides to quit. Not simply a stand-up special you can leave on in the background to listen to, Does This Need To Be Said? needs to be viewed as Ferguson’s mannerisms just add to the laughter along with his jokes. If for nothing else, you need to watch it just for one of his “patented” Craig Ferguson lip syncs as he dances to “Oops, I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. If you like humor that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even when talking about serious things, then Craig Ferguson may just be your cup of tea! As always, Does This Need to be Said? Is available from Netflix Instant for your viewing pleasure in wonderful HD!