Scott Dooley’s Debut is a “Stand-up comedy film”. It’s not strictly a recorded version of his live show nor is it an in-depth documentary of his travels. In Debut Dools offers us an account of his life spent on the road, performing stand-up and doing promo spots and above all, making people laugh.
Dools’ debut film is an interesting concept and a rather strange beast in that it threads together many different elements. In some ways this makes it similar to his live show, which is very down-to-earth, casual and high energy. At times Dooley’s comedy seems similar to Wil Anderson’s in that it is occasionally clever, sometimes crude and often revels in poking fun at others (as well as reserving a fair slab of time for self-deprecation).
The highlights of Dooley’s live show are: his describing a funny Craigslist advertisement from America that is similar to the “Here’s Looking At You” personals column in MX Australia. There’s a funny and snarky letter to Vodafone (found in the Extras) as well as a sex scene/story written by his naïve but clever eight-year-old cousin. Another family member of Dooley’s that’s very funny is his grandma, Dawn “Little” Fenton. She offers up great pearls of wisdom and her advice for living in New York is: “Never tackle any one for any reason”. Seriously.
Debut also features some great cameos including: Lehmo, Matt Okine, Alex Dyson and Des Bishop. Dools used to work at Triple J and Nova radio but he now lives in New York. His musical tastes still reflect the former station however, as the soundtrack includes music by: Illy, Eagle & The Worm, The Medics, Thelma Plum and Dune Rats, among others.
The DVD also includes additional bonus features like extra jokes from his live show. There is also a mock interview full of one liners from his co-presenter on The Green Light Boys podcast, Angus Truskett. The trailer for the DVD rounds out a reasonable set of additions to this set.
Scott Dooley is at his best when he finds the right balance between scripted material and some quick-fire ad-libbed lines. His comedy film, Debut is an odd beast in that it cannibalises a few genres to fashion things together into one handy package. But that said there are some very funny moments from this engaging and average every day man who still connects with people even when he’s simply complaining about feeling old, single and in his dirty thirties.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Bonus Features Review Score: TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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Scott Dooley’s Debut is available now through Warner Music Australia.
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