by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Greg Behrendt thinks he's cool.
Or, at least, he used to be cool, he said. He does have a lot to stand on - not only was he an executive consultant on HBO's "Sex and the City," but he's written one of the most popular relationship advice books on the market today, He's Just Not That Into You: The No Excuses Truth To Understanding Guys.
So, you'd think when Behrendt releases a DVD of his stand-up comedy, "Greg Behrendt is Uncool," there might be something to it.
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Behrendt's hour-long stand-up is painful to watch. He nervously paces through his set, stammering out jokes and hoping they'll get a laugh. He puts nothing on timing or stage presence and everything on the quality of his above-average jokes.
His jokes focus mostly on the fact that at 42 he's getting old. He has a few theories about how life should be now that he's in his 40s - hour-long concerts, new words that come into a 42-year-old's vocabulary, and why Pictionary is a dangerous game.
The best part of the stand-up comes 10 minutes before the end of his set, when he begins to talk about He's Just Not That Into You and how the book came to be. Watching the audience's reaction to this part of the show leads one to believe everyone was simply waiting for him to start talking about the book. The audience appears to be mostly groups of women sitting around drinking martinis, Ö la the characters on "Sex and the City."
The bonus material on the DVD is sparse - a few links to Web sites and two short films about Behrendt's uncoolness. The first film, "What Is Cool?" consists of three minutes of interviews with some of Behrendt's friends like David Cross and Moon Zappa. The best interview comes from Jenny McCarthy, who defines "cool" as Fonzie from "Happy Days."
"Any Jewish short guy that can make women want to fuck them is really cool," she said.
Sometimes it's nice to see 1994's Playmate of the Year be vulgar.
The second short film is a mockumentary called "Greg Behrendt Does Not Rock" in which Behrendt explains his concept for a band.
"Let's not record something. I've got an idea," he said. "Why don't we not put it on tape today? No instruments, no vocals, no rehearsal. It's nothingness, man."
At one point he puts on a tape showing what he's trying to accomplish. The tape is silent, and as he rocks out to it, he talks about how amazing the silence is. If it weren't for the fact that he stole this idea directly from the film "Pootie Tang," this joke might have had some merit.
The DVD costs $15 and has about 10 minutes of solid comedy on it. While fans of the book might like that they get to see the author in action, it provides little else for people just hoping for a good stand-up comedian. And that's decidedly uncool.
