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During its brief life on Fox, I may have caught the sitcom, Titus, once or twice. I know I had at least one friend who enjoyed it. He spoke well enough of it that when, channel surfing late one night, I came upon series creator and star Christopher Titus’s first stand-up special, Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, I decided to give it a shot. By the end of that hour and a half, I began wishing I’d paid more attention to my friend’s recommendation.
To say that Christopher Titus has had a hard life would be a massive understatement. What’s really remarkable about it is how he turns a smorgasbord of family and personal dysfunctions into humor that you can’t help but laugh with rather than at. He’s like the Anti-Jerry Springer, parading a cast of screwed-up characters that make us feel better about our similarities rather than our differences. I found the end of that special completely charming, as he described in glowing terms the positive turns his life had taken and the strength of his relationship with his wife.
His new DVD comedy special is entitled Love is Evol. Uh-oh.
With a title like that, it’s not a shock that the most of the new material in this special largely revolves around the comic’s lengthy, and apparently quite brutal, divorce. Familiar characters return from earlier material, including his parents—a couple of people who, as he notes early on, are best described as “Batman villains.” They’re given a run for their money in this special by the ex-wife with a penchant for kitchen knives and elderly millionaires.
The second half of the set transitions into the comic’s new relationship, including his awkwardness at re-entering the dating scene, his fear of her unexpectedly supportive and caring family, and, finally, his shock at being in a relationship that might not be bat-s*** crazy. The running theme is, as it had to be, that people do insane things to themselves and each other in the name of love, and that, for all the pain and misery and confusion, it’s still the best game in town.
The DVD also includes three largely forgettable bonus features, including a behind-the-scenes on the DVD photo shoot, a handful of fan reactions to the new special, and a brief 14-part primer for men on how to approach Valentine’s Day. Compared to the strength of the material in the main feature, one kind of wonders why they bothered.
Whether you look forward to Valentine’s Day, or, like me, you wish you could consign the entire first half of the month to a black hole, you’ll probably find something here that you can relate to and laugh at. While I look forward to more work by Christopher Titus, considering the inspiration for this and the last special—and for his own sake—I kind of hope that this is his last special for a long, happy while.
