Red Green, D.V.D.* (*Duct tape Virtuoso Deluxe)

It would be very difficult to pick my favorite Handyman Project ("if the women don't find you handsome, they're sure to find you handy") out of the near dozen presented on this DVD compilation featuring Canada's The Red Green Show's resident sage Uncle Red (gravely-voiced comic genius Steve Smith), utilizing the "handyman's secret weapon": duct tape. The car-to-backhoe conversion (involving a ladder, garbage can, and ThighMaster) was impressive, and the ersatz snowmobile created from a toboggan, hot water heater, Presto logs, and water skis ("this baby will go faster than a teenager's allowance") struck me as an extraordinary example of handyman ingenuity. But, the coop de grass, if you will, was the mind-bogglingly nifty system for handling multiple inflatable toys. Reasoning that "you don't want your kids seeing ya all dizzy and passin' out this far from New Year's," Red channels the exhaust from a van into a large (and, naturally, duct taped) airtight tent, runs a main hose with several mini-hoses off the giant airbag to a bunch of deflated plastic animals and whatnot, and then, voila!, drives over the tent/air holding tank, thereby pushing the (somewhat fetid) air out and inflating all the toys simultaneously…without coughing up a single bit of lung! Admittedly, the one-skit-after-another format drags a little after the first 40 minutes, but that's just as well, since you'll be so tired from laughing that any respite will feel like an act of divine mercy. DVD extras include: a tour of a duct tape factory (3M), a segment on duct tape creations sent in by fans, and a handful of behind-the-scenes commentaries. An excellent companion to earlier Red Green gems such as Red Green's Guide to Parenting, this is highly recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)