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Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days and 30 Nights: Hollywood to the Heartland

It seems, you had to be there

By BETSY SHERMAN | February 6, 2008

1.5 Stars

VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW: Neither funny nor moving.

The film of Vince Vaughn’s September 2005 jaunt through the West, South, and Midwest has a dubious goal: to be a stand-up movie with heart. That means it includes not only the on-stage bits and backstage pranks of the bus-bound comics but also passages in which struggles are traced, insecurities voiced, and manly tears shed. (The boys even visit Katrina evacuees.) But the result is neither funny nor moving. Of the four stand-ups tapped by Hollywood’s beloved wise-ass, the best is Ahmed Ahmed, from the “Axis of Evil” tour. The others are, by persona, a lovable loser, a high-energy “guido,” and a smirking smoothie. Vaughn MCs and performs lighthearted improv with actor pals Justin Long and Peter Billingsley. The comedic flow is interrupted by interview soundbites that range from insightful to Psych 101. Behold perception versus reality: one bummed-out comic thinks a patron kept yelling “Fuck you!” when he was really cheering “Fuck, yeah!” For a good time, it seems you had to be there. 100 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Circle/Chestnut Hill + suburbs

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