Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 12, 2017

Missouri native and L.A.-based comedian Kathleen Madigan has been delighting audiences with her stand-up work for some time now, and is often considered amongst the best female comedians working today. Her career has taken her around the globe and down the line of A-list celebrities with whom she has worked and top-rated television programs on which she has appeared. Her work with the USO, entertaining troops in the Middle East, has won her widespread praise. In a crowded comic field, she's a standout amongst her peers, regardless of sex, and her show Gone Madigan is a 64-minute sampling of the comic at the top of her game. While there are no exceedingly funny or instantly classic moments, the performer delivers an even-keeled, energetic barrage of quips and insights with a swift, agreeable delivery.

Even at a crisp 64 minutes, Madigan's routine is all over the map, and like any good comedian, finds the inherent humor -- and the humor that most don't see -- in darn near everything. Hypochondriacs will die laughing during her opening bit about her time self-diagnosing over the Internet. She spends some time discussing her travels through Afghanistan alongside Kid Rock as part of her USO tour. She dives headfirst into politics, including her support of Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama and the rift it caused in her family. She shares her reasons why, which include her cynical place in life and failure to truly believe in "hope and change." She tackles other social and political hot-button issues like health care and the economy. She takes some time to berate Oprah (including finding a way to blame her for the nation's economic woes), mismanaging finances, the Amish, her personal vices (smoking, drinking, and gambling all at once!), and her age.

There are several moments during the show in which it's clear that the audience doesn't know what to make of Madigan's comedy. There's almost a collective gasp and certainly a reservedness to the applause when she takes the opportunity to go on the offensive against otherwise safe-space, mainstream culture criticism-free icons like Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, but it doesn't take long for Madigan to have the audience eating out of her hand. She doesn't go easy on these people -- or anyone or anything in her comedic crosshairs, for that matter -- but she proves herself capable of tightrope walking the fine line between ripping on various individuals, cultures, and lifestyles while still staying more or less true to her self-proclaimed left wing leanings. Fortunately, the entire program isn't politically charged. Madigan is an equal opportunity comic, getting in her jabs on both sides but taking the time to unearth the humor in everything from airplane trips to bad habits.

It's in the more random, off-the-wall, off-the-cuff sort of moments in which she shines brightest. One of her great strengths, evident pretty quickly, is her ability to flow with the humor, her transitional grace, her innate sense of timing and her mastery of comic transition. Looking broadly at the list of topics she covers, it's nothing if not a smorgasbord of random bits and pieces that would seem to pull her this way and that. But in its hour-long total, Madigan's performance is as gracefully transitional as they come. The pacing is strong and her ability to bounce around topics and make the entire performance a collective, cohesive entity is really quite something to watch unfold. She performs with a more reserved style, less bouncing around and more stationary than most -- if she moves it's usually to take a sip of water -- and the film's bland technical presentation reflects that, making use of a few static close-up angles, which aren't dissimilar altogether and featuring only the very rear wide shot that captures part of the crowd as well as part of the stage, and only from the right side of the room. Fortunately, Madigan's performance more than makes up for the dull production values, and both established fans and newcomers to her routine should find her delivery and humor agreeable. Note, however, that she's not above using some choice language -- and even rips on Sarah Palin at one point for not cussing -- so this is not a family-friendly production.

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan features a bland and disappointing 1080i transfer. The image is dull and soft. Textural qualities lack any sort of tangible crispness. Basic clarity is boosted by the HD source, but don't expect to explore the intricacies of Madigan's attire or makeup during the performance. Stage scuffs are likewise barely visible and forget about seeing any textural qualities on the curtain behind the performer. Colors are likewise drab, and there's not much variety to them, either. Madigan stands on a blue stage and in front of a blue curtain, both of which are monochromatic and absent any vitality or nuance. Her silvery jacket and the color tone of her face are the only true escapes from the bland background, and neither are likewise all that visually striking from a color saturation perspective. Black levels in those few shots that incorporate part of the crowd are sloppy, and there is some pervasive noise throughout the image. This one is best heard, not seen.

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a fairly basic listen that is, of course, heavy on the spoken word and surrounded by some complimentary applause. The presentation begins with serviceably enveloping applause. Clarity is below par and the sensation of being in the middle of the audience is not evident, but the track at least makes an effort to extend beyond the front. Continuous laughs and applause offer a mild sense of spacing, opening up the track a little both to the edges and towards the rears, but neither dominate or really draw the listener in. Madigan's dialogue is suitably clear. Mild reverberation accompanies but it's predominantly a front-center experience.

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan contains two extras.

• Interview (480i, 3:41): The comic digs through her notes in which she jots down some thoughts for jokes and discusses her organizational skills.
• Behind the Scenes (480i, 15:26): Music and background din overwhelm the opening dialogue. Madigan then sits down with her mom and dad, comedy club owners, and others. The discussions are intermixed with other standalone comments and behind the scenes footage.

Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kathleen Madigan is a good comic and delivers a fun, somewhat provocative, but quick and well-paced performance in Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan. It's not family-friendly, but it is diversely funny and bounces from topic to topic with uncanny feel and flow. The Blu-ray, from Image Entertainment, delivers bland video, adequate audio, and a couple of extras that are for fans only. Worth a rental.