Chris Hardwick: “Mandroid” (2013) DVD Review

Chris Hardwick is a comedian known for celebrating all things nerd-related. His new DVD release, Mandroid, even has artwork resembling a science fiction comic book cover, with him as the hero battling a dinosaur on a distant planet (and it’s only ten cents!).

The opening credits are over a really cool animated sequence that includes a robot maid in heels and then a blue die that in turns becomes each of the dice associated with Dungeons & Dragons (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 – you RPG players know exactly what I’m talking about).

So all of that prepares you for Chris Hardwick’s nerdy material. He talks about how when growing up he had to hide the fact that he was a nerd. But these days it’s cool to be a nerd, as everyone is into some nerdy stuff now. Being a nerd, he talks about how he knows nothing about sports, and when forced into a conversation about sports, he responds by talking about that insanely stupid game from the Harry Potter series. It makes sense that he would like that game, because only someone who doesn’t understand sports could enjoy those scenes. He even tells chess jokes. Yes, and you probably thought there were no chess jokes.

This performance was filmed in New York, and Chris Hardwick talks about actors in that city. “Acting is hilarious to me because it is the one profession that people claim is their profession having never been paid to do it ever. That does not happen in any other business.” He goes on to imagine a banker saying, “I’m not currently banking right now. Yeah, I’ve been studying with this dude, Bruce Schechter. He banked at a lot of off, off-main branch banks.” That is wonderful.

I love his bit about the ghost-hunting shows, after which he adds, “As a side note, do you think Patrick Swayze now goes up behind people in pottery classes and hugs them, just to crack up other ghosts?”

Besides ghost-hunting shows, Chris Hardwick makes references to Star Trek: The Next Generation, He-Man, and the old Atari systems.  It’s not all nerdy references, however. Take this bit, for example: “And yet humans cannot produce viable offspring with our closest animal cousin, the chimpanzee. We cannot impregnate a chimp. So you know what that means? No condoms! Fuck yeah! Here I come, chimps. I’ve seen you peel bananas with your feet. I know what you’re capable of.” That leads to a seriously hilarious bit about having sex with one’s dog. His bit on fingering is likewise hilarious.

For a nerd, surprisingly his sex material is his funniest stuff. Like the bit where he likens strippers leaving themselves partly unshaved to someone mowing most of his lawn. And this: “Boners are informative, tell you a wide variety of things you didn’t know you were into.”

I was laughing through most of his performance. And I definitely appreciate his take on Facebook: “Facebook is just like a nagging girlfriend who’s constantly trying to make you hang out with people you don’t want to hang out with and always making you tell her where you are.” Amen.

Bonus Features

This DVD’s bonus features are two musical performances by Hard ‘N’ Phirm (Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman). These songs seem to have been the encores to this live show, and are “Abraham Lincoln” and “El Corazon.” The second song is absolutely fantastic. 

There is also something labeled “Totally Hidden Easter Egg,” and that’s their first attempt at doing “Abraham Lincoln.” They had to stop because of a technical problem – the graphic wasn’t appearing on the screen behind them. So they mess around for several minutes while the problem is being solved. This stuff is pretty funny.

Mandroid is scheduled to be released on January 22, 2013. This show premiered on Comedy Central on November 10, 2012.