Jonathan Winters: Rare and Riotous

Jonathan Winters is the comic genius whom Robin Williams calls his idol and greatest influence. Here is wacky Winters at his craziest: creating hysterical voices, quirky characters, and hilarious "schtick," right off the top of his brilliant head. This rare collection of vintage performances includes a "Chevy show" with singer Andy Williams, a 1964 TV special alongside fellow comic legend Art Carney and talk-show pioneer Jack Paar, and even a lengthy public service announcement in which he plays five different characters! No comedy connoisseur should be without this deliciously daffy DVD!

Terrible dvd

This particular dvd of Johnathon
Winters is "unauthorized" and one can see why. If you're a fan, don't go for this package; it is a very poor selection of material, a lot of it irrelevant, and it even makes Art Carney look bad (well, he is bad here). Instead choose the "authorized" dvd that is available to see some fine stuff, both very old and very new from the comedy genius. Be warned about tbis one (very poor). December 18, 2007

would prefer zero star option

As others have already said it was not funny. It is apparently a special from 1964, complete with the sponsors commercials. the commercials are the highlight of the hour. Jonathan says on more than one occasion that the audience members must be saying "look at him, he's making a fool of himself." I feel sure he was right. The cover has a disclaimer, saying that the dvd is neither endorsed nor authorized by Mr. Winters. That is for a very good reason. It is horrible. August 30, 2006

VERY DISSAPOINTING

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE, WE WERE VERY DISAPPOINTED, NOTHING LIKE WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. IT WASN'T EVEN FUNNY, NOT AT ALL WHAT JOHNATHAN WINTERS WAS CAPABLE OF. July 16, 2006

There's got to be something better than this

This consists of two half hour shows in rough, un-remastered black and white, plus a public information film about not dropping litter. It is not a researched, 'best of' clip compilation as the blurb may suggest. Can't have been hard to out together. The show with Art Carney has its moments, with some genuinely funny moments of spontaneity, though I found Carney slightly over-competitive and annoying. It ends with a strangely sanctimonious, 'serious' speech from Winters about how much he loves spending time with his family. The Andy Williams show is in poor quality b/w video and is not terribly funny.
There doesn't seem to be much of Winters available on dvd, which is a shame. I would recommend the wonderful Dean Martin Variety Show dvds (available elsewhere) which feature lots of Winters' very funny contributions in glorious colour. October 27, 2005

Rare but not necessarily Riotous

Jonathan Winters on the Loose is the ultimate review but this is very interesting. Shows the Winters family, too. The best part is the struggle between Art Carney and JW to top each other. July 3, 2005

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