Long Story Short

One time, I was getting into a cab in New York City and Colin Quinn came lumbering down the street in a long grey trenchcoat, smiling and saying hi to those who greeted him. "Hey Col, love your stuff!" yelled a kindly doorman. "Hey buddy, lemme shake your hand," said a buff, tight-tee-shirted guido from Jersey. I tapped Quinn on the arm and said: "Keep up the good work!" He was not creeped out by this at all. In fact, Quinn seemed genuinely pleased to have fans and to interact with them. What can I say: he seemed like a likable, genuine sort of dude. In this great one-man show produced by none other than Maestro Jerry Seinfeld, Quinn is the history professor I always wish I'd had. Not some stuffy, bow-tied milquetoast with a fetish for total recall of exact days/months/years and "Top 3 causes of the Reformation", but a guy who just gets it, who tells it like it is. Quinn's comedy plays just-loose-enough with the facts so that you can appreciate the capital "T" Truth behind those facts. Don't just watch this on YouTube for free. Buy it. Be nice to the artist. He is a genial, middle-aged man.

Wasn't sure I was going to like this video. I'm somewhat familiar with Colin Quinn's style of comedy, but this one-man show seemed to be something else. Turned out to be worth watching, his dry wit actually worked well with this sort of intellectual stand up. After watching it I saw that Jerry Seinfeld was the producer and I could imagine this would have been the sort of thing he would help create.If I were to have a complaint, it would be that the presentation seemed a bit too short. I wanted more. I watched the video again later and listen to the commentary track with Colin & Jerry discussing the production (and other things). There is also a short (15 min) behind the scenes feature.I'm glad I picked this video up for my collection.

I think this guy is a genius! WHERE has he BEEN all this time???!!! Colin Quinn wrote the whole show and manages to poke fun at everyone without being cruel - hard for some comedians to do. He gives you a history of the world, more or less, with lots of diversions on the side to showcase our funniest fears, humiliations, and neuroses. The show is so densely packed that you have to watch it over and over to get everything - thus, you need to own the DVD. I don't often pass on DVDs, CDs, or books, but this one I've sent to all my friends. Colin Quinn is also good at foreign accents and zeroing in on stereotypes we love to have about not only foreigners, friends, and family, but ourselves. It's truly amazing that you can watch 75 minutes of this man's snide-ness and feel great about having done so! I'm looking forward to the DVD of his next show called, "Unconstitutional," in which I believe he tells us all about our illustrious fondled Fathers...

I loved it.You have to pay attention to some of the nuanced jokes.Colin’s accents are great for this.

This is a record of Colin Quinn's screamingly funny one-man show about -- well, about everything; he could have called it "The Story of Mankind." It covers everything from executive leadership circa 20,000 B.C. to the Rise and Fall of Rome (burned down for the insurance money) to England's eternal yearning for the seductions of France to why nobody lives in Canada. And somehow a terrific parody of the feel-good movie ("every five years it wins the Oscar") about a crusading teacher in a ghetto school fits right in. Along the way Quinn creates a stage-full of characters, of every age, ethnicity, and gender (his accents are truly brilliant). Quinn masks his erudition with a convincing street voice, but make no mistake, this is one well-read guy.

This guy is absolutely entertaining and thought provoking.

Starting with Greece trying to lead with Democracy. Ending with Greece trying to advise America. Democracy comes full circle as the forces of power and thought swing back and forth through our collective history. Its an intelligent piece and a humorous one at the same time.

Colin Quinn has done three of these one man shows, and they're all great entertainment. Quinn manages to be simultaneously historically accurate and extremely funny as he presents his personal take on the history of the world. I found myself often laughing and snorting as he explained how the modern world came to be.

Best stand up for educated people.

genius