Well, I had exams so I couldn't watch it on Wednesday night, but I saw it this afternoon and it was incredible. The show itself sort of reminded me of a 90 minute "Seinfeld" episode introduction. There were red curtains and stuff that reminded me of the show's opening.
Before they showed the act, there was a small 5 minute vignette of Jerry retiring his act. The setting is in a cemetery, and the best comedians in the world get together to say goodbye to his act. George Carlin, Jay Leno, Garry Shandling, Paul Reiser and others are there. Jerry puts all of his material in a coffin and closes the lid, but a piece of paper representing a comedy bit flies away. A little kid picks it up, begs Jerry to perform it, and Jerry says "alright, but I'm telling you for the last time". Nice opening scene that leads into the title.
The act itself was a sort-of "Best Of" Jerry Seinfeld stand-up. From the beginning, Jerry has me ROTFL by noting that there are always some people in the audience that don't want to do the standing ovation. Then he goes into the usual Jerry stuff and starts talking about cab drivers, planes, kids, sex, food and all the rest.
I'd say about 70% of his material was stuff I hadn't heard before, either from the show or from his book. The other 30% was stuff I had already heard (but didn't mind hearing again from Jerry). In particular, it seems as though his material on sex hasn't changed much (no comment). He does say he was engaged for 6 months. Maybe that was the basis for "The Engagement", which started Season 7.
Some great lines I hadn't heard before from Jerry:
"For kids everything is up. Wait up, hold up, shut up. Adults are exactly the opposite -- everything is down. Calm down, slow down, come down, put that thing down!"
"The flag for the state of Florida should just be a steering wheel, a hat and two knuckles..."
"On the plane, everything is small. But what about that bathroom? They've got a tiny compartment for used razor blades. Who is shaving on the plane? Not only that, who is shaving so much that they are using up razor blades? What, is the wolfman on the plane?!"
"The pilot always seems so excited. 'Yah, I'm going to take it up to 10,000 feet and then I'm going to make a left turn near Pittsburgh'. And we're in the back going, 'Yeah. Okay. Just do whatever the hell it is you have to do. Just get to the place on the ticket, I guess'..."
"I love the idea of the kid that's stupid enough to think he can fly like Superman but smart enough to look on the box to read the warning. 'Hey, I'm Superman! Wait a minute, does it say anything about not jumping with this thing on? Hey, it does!' "
"The only qualification I can see cab drivers needing is a face. No blank faced cab drivers in our town! These people have like 8 consonants in a row in their name. And what is with the "o" with a line through it -- what planet is this from? 'Yes officer, he had a long name and then the symbol for Boron!' "
"The first time you hear about Halloween, your brain just can't comprehend it. 'What? Who is giving away candy? EVERYBODY? They're just GIVING it away? When? Where? What can I do? What do I have to do? (pause) ... I can wear that!"
"Do the people in airports have any idea what the prices everywhere else are? 'Yes, $14 for a tuna sandwhich -- it's reasonable' ". (especially funny when you consider Jerry has about $105 million in his bank account)
And those quotes are only from the first 30 minutes! I remember there was more in the show about supermarkets, and doctors, and other things, but I'll have to watch the tape again.
If anyone is interested, I will make an attempt to compile his best quotes and post them.
Needless to say, the 90 minute show was a classic. For anyone that loves Jerry Seinfeld, this is a can't-miss. It's not a re-hash of material from SeinLanguage and "Seinfeld" like some critics say. Obviously the show isn't 100% brand new material, but there's only so much one comedian can notice. :-) Even the old material has a bit of a twist to it:
"What is the age someone just decides to back out of a driveway? I'm old, I'm rusty, I'm going back! I survived, how about you?"
My absolute favourite bit is his sky-diving helmet joke. I never stop laughing when he tells it.
Anyways, I'm rambling a bit, so I'll end this thing by saying that if you haven't seen this show MAKE AN EFFORT to get it.
Which leads me to my next and last point: I made sure I taped the show for anyone that hasn't seen it. The entire EP 6 hr videocasette now contains:
- The Seinfeld "Pre-Finale" Show
- The Seinfeld Finale
- Jerry Seinfeld on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno after the Finale
- Jerry Seinfeld's "I'm Telling You For The Last Time" Comedy Act
Total of 5+ hours of Jerry. I'm not sure if anyone else is selling the ITYFTLT comedy bit taped from CBC, but if not, you can give me a shout. I've got a friend who dubs tapes, and there's a variety of costs associated with S&H, tapes, etc. but if you're interested, e-mail-me and we'll work something out. It's well-worth it!