Stand-up comedy reminds me of people's taste in food. Some people like spicy Thai, others like plain vanilla. Every once in a while, you get people who will eat just about anything you put in front of them, no matter how good or bad the food's been cooked. Comedy, stand-up that is, makes some people laugh until their guts hurt, and some comedy causes other people to fold their arms on their chest. In other words, comedy is a matter of taste.

"The Best of Comedy Central Presents Uncensored" is now on DVD.  

Comedy Central, a cable channel that features "South Park" and "Reno 911," also features stand-up comedy. In recent years, or at least that I've noticed, the channel has been featuring more unedited stand-up acts and roasts (which are totally funny). This new DVD strings together acts from today's hottest comics.

It's been said that comedy is the hardest acting to do. So stand-up must be hard. Trying to be funny and make an audience laugh must be difficult. I don't envy those guys and gals who do it for a living. To be successful at it takes an act that your audience likes. As an audience member watching these comedy acts, we can become like drivers on the road. You could be the most pleasant person on Earth, but once behind the wheel, you become a screaming maniac. Audiences can be no different to a stand-up comic. We become a comic's worst critic if he or she isn't making us laugh. Comedy is serious business. So some of the comedians on this DVD got some good laughs from me. Others, well...

Out all the acts on this DVD, the one I don't get laughs from is Dane Cook. Maybe it's my advancing, feeble age that causes me to think that Cook's act isn't funny. He reminds of Pauley Shore or Emo Phillips or Carrot Top. Way back in the 1990s, those three were popular acts with the college crowd. Cook is the 21st Century equivalent. Wildly popular and unfunny. Cook reminds me of the bratty loudmouth kid in your 6th grade class. He's the type who always has to have people paying attention to him. He's loud! Look at Dane! Whether or not he can crack a good joke is irrelevant. He's got your attention, at least for a while until you get tired of his act, and that doesn't take long. As a result, he gets a following, while the rest of us don't want to be in the same classroom with him for any longer.

Jeff Dunham does a ventriloquist act. I didn't find it too funny. Mitch Hedberg does an act, but I didn't get many laughs out of it. Brian Regan seems like a nice guy, but his act wasn't too funny. The same with Demetri Martin. I was surprised that I liked Lewis Black's act, as I wasn't too crazy about his routine on "The Daily Show." His act on this DVD isn't super funny, but he did well on hitting those comic buttons about society and our holidays.

The best acts on the disc are by Jim Gaffigan and Carlos Mencia. Gaffigan is the anti-comic who doesn't scorch the stage with barbs. Instead, he pokes fun at his Indiana "heritage" and himself. I've enjoyed hearing Mencia's act on local radio station KLOS on "The 5 O'Clock Funnies." He pokes fun, like many comics, at everybody. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, Mencia pokes fun at various cultures and somehow gets away with it. He basically says, "Loosen up and make fun of yourself."

The DVD is hit and miss. If you like all of the comedy on Comedy Central, this disc is a no-brainer to buy or rent. If you're like me, you may just be a little picky in the comedy you might enjoy on this DVD.            

Photos: © Comedy Partners. All rights reserved.