The world’s best loved stand-up comedian is on offer at all DVD shops yet again, this time with not one, but two different shows from roughly the same era, both delivering significant doses of Connolly’s observations about life and people.

Please God, help me remember the punchline."

The Big Yin is something of a rarity in the world of comedy, and can keep an audience in stitches for hours on end with virtually no stage props apart from a guitar, a banjo and occasional exotic instrument that he reaches for to knock out a little comedy ditty or two as he does on both the included shows, Hand Picked and Bites Your Bum.

The former labourer started his entertainment career as a musician (and a decent one at that), but soon cottoned onto the fact that people were more interested in what he had to say between songs, and so life as a comedian began.

Essentially, however, Connolly’s style is simple storytelling and observations about people and life, mixed with one-liners, some animated mime gags and tangents that take you down numerous sidetracks only to land back at the original story sometime later. Rest assured that Connolly never forgets where he is at and what loose endings still require tidying.

"Now was it E, A then D, or E, D then A? Damn!"

It’s a long way from the work site, to a small pub stage and eventually the Apollo and Cambridge Theatre where these two vintage performances were filmed. The big hair and the goatee are in full-on mode and while the comedy in these 1981 and 1982 performances remains mostly fresh, there is still the odd cultural reference or name-drop that will not mean much to most viewers. In all though, these are very polished and confident performances, but then they usually are.

These were previously available on VHS and really there is no need to upgrade to DVD if your tapes still function. At a combined running time of 200 minutes there are plenty of laughs and some classic ditties such as My Granny is a Cripple in Nashville and a very unique and passionate performance of Tell Laura I Love Her to ensure some great laughs and memorable jokes.

The second of the shows scrubs up a little sharper than the first, but both are essentially quite watchable until the camera pans waaaay back and Connolly becomes a white glow in the distance. Thankfully this is not a regular occurrence. Both shows are in full frame aspect ratio being made for television and/or the VHS market. Colours have not paled, but there is some interference from noise and bleeding, plus grain and a somewhat soft image throughout. Both shows are relatively clean and unmarked and display little in the way of shimmer or aliasing. There is some flaring and some comets that seem standard in most videotaped footage from that era, most noticeable when a camera pans across a bright image like a stage light.

Both performances offer stock standard Dolby Digital mono which is more than adequate for all but a few minutes, as the bulk of the show is Connolly delivering an endless steam of jokes and anecdotes, and only the few musical numbers that may have benefited from some sort of separation. As most of us are more interested in the comedy, there seems little get upset about.

There are no issues with volume, clarity or separation, nothing for most of your home theatre to get excited about, but synchronisation is fine and while there is some minor hiss in the background, there is little here to write home about, nor much to be miffed about.

This is one of those cases where the audio and video may be average at best, but it’s what it is being said that really counts.

There are no extras included, folks.

Fans know what to expect from Connolly and surprisingly there is not as much swearing in these shows as in others. It is still there, but seems to be used less for punctuation than normal. Either way, he is still adored by kids and grannies and other discerning adults alike.