Tom Green: Inside & Outside the Box

Canadian-born comedian Tom Green is one of those performers who rarely inspire middle-of-the-road opinions: people generally love him or hate him. If you're in the latter group, nothing in this three-disc boxed set will change your mind. Comprised of 26 episodes from Green's home-grown Canadian cable show, Inside & Outside the Box shows this maniacal prankster doing what he does best: making a total fool of himself and irritating the bejeezus out of those who, wittingly or unwittingly, find themselves caught up in one of his pranks. Predating his move to MTV (although many of the bits here later appeared on MTV), the Canadian Comedy Network-aired The Tom Green Show (from the mid-‘90s) finds the titular host badgering drunks, seniors, foreign tourists, and even his studio audiences, while also engaging in periodic orgies of destruction (favorite implements of choice: chainsaws and baseball bats), outrageous stunts (such as sucking on cow udders), and extended screaming fits. This boxed set includes over an hour of previously unseen material, some of it extensions of skits in the collected episodes. Whether or not Green has any discernible talent is the $64,000 question, but one thing is for certain: the guy is absolutely fearless. He'll do anything—anything—for a laugh, and there's a certain infectiousness to his antics that some viewers will find not only refreshing but also exhilarating. DVD extras include over an hour of bonus material and audio commentaries by Green on two episodes. A strong optional purchase. (E. Hulse)