Studio: Wea-des Moines Video Release Date: 10/30/2001 Rating: Nr

Average Customer Review: ( 15 customer reviews )
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"Comedy Video Classics" is a tour de force of humor of the lowest brow, and I'm hear to tell you, it is funny. "Help Me Make it Through the Night" starts seriously, but soon turns into a free-for-all of outrageous sight gags and sound effects, with Ray playing about a dozen different parts. In the mildly risque "It's Me Again Margaret," Ray's an obscene phone caller who utters the immortal line "Are ya nekkiiiiiiid!" to his plus-size victim. (The video has an amusing twist ending.) "Santa Claus is Watching You," a rockin' early tune, isn't particularly funny (despite shamelessly exploiting a Little Person for cheap laughs), but it does showcase Ray's agility with witty lyrics. Ray is in very good voice on "Sittin' Up with the Dead" and has a field day making fun of a creepy Southern custom. The catchy "Surfin' U.S.S.R.," a Cold War send-up done Beach Boys style, has the video's best sight gag: Russian sailors holding up pictures of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin while Ray flashes one of John Lennon. Surely aimed at rigid Southern Baptists, "Mississippi Squirrel Revival" has Sister Bertha Better-Than-You and members of the First Self-Righteous Church getting their hilarious comeuppance one fateful Sunday. Ray's hugely popular "The Streak" makes a perfect transition to video, complete with cheesy animation, and gives Ray his best role as a Caterpillar-cap wearing redneck trying to protect his wife Ethel from the evils ("He was a-dribblin'!") of that Seventies fad. Finally, just to prove he has a serious side, Ray does his classic "Everything is Beautiful," a sentiment that's hard to argue with after you've laughed so hard.

While obviously made on the cheap, the videos are smartly directed and edited and the production values are modest but professional. More importantly, the good time being had by cast and crew comes over like a tidal wave. It bears mentioning, too, that the musicianship on all the tunes is absolutely top-notch.

I've owned this video for ten years, and everybody I've ever shared it with has near about rolled on the floor. It's
family-friendly and a sure cure for whatever ails you.

12 of 12 found the following review helpful:

Ray Stevens-Comedy video classicsJul 26, 2000

This video is side-splitting comedy at its' best! The entire video is hysterical, but "Sitting up with the Dead" will have you rolling on the floor with tears from laughing so hard.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Comedy At It's Very BestJan 23, 2003
By Princess23
Ray Steven's Comedy Video Classics is the funniest video I've ever seen. The songs are funny in and of itself, but the videos are even funnier. My favorites are "It's Me Again Margaret", and "The Mississippi Squarrell Revival". I recommend this video to whoever needs a laugh.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

hilariousJun 01, 2006
By Matt Kratz "c&w and books lover"
Classics indeed! This was a hilarious collection of Ray Stevens's videos including "The Streak," "Santa Claus is Watching You," "Mississippi Squirrel revival," and "Everything is Beautiful." If you like Ray Stevens, you will love this collection. I loved it. Yeah, I did.

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