I admit it; I was a Martin Lawrence fan. I will repeat that, I was a Martin Lawrence fan. It was way back in the day when a callout of MAAAAARRRRtIIINNNNNNN was in vogue. I did find the TV show relatively amusing; I thought this kid had great screen presence and charisma. I sat through tears of laughter during You So Crazy. Finally, someone had picked up where Eddie Murphy left off and took it into his own distinctive direction. I was one of the few who loved Bad Boys, and am actually looking forward to a sequel. Yes, I was despondent and confused when Martin seemed to be going mad in the streets and falling in and out of schizophrenic activity. When he arrived through this crisis I was hoping to see the same raw talent I enjoyed way back when.

Suffice it to say Martin screwed up his comeback.

Runteldat - as in 'guess what Martin just did, run n tel dat' - is a whining, autobiographical, more motivational speech than performance piece or stand up. Running at a hefty 113 minutes, my eyes closed and I napped while watching. Stacked with his usual flurry of f-bombs and much worse, delving into x-rated topics further than ever expected, it is quite likely that something here will offend you.

Runteldat begins with a self-important, egomaniacal retrospective at Martins career. Reminding us that he has completely lost what he once had. There are shades of old Martin and some very funny bits in this routine that total 15 minutes. This I will give him credit for, when he wants to he can find his well of gold and dip into it. I laughed a total of 12 times in this 113 minutes. Sorry to say, that is not nearly enough for a stand up routine. The word is in, Martin sucks.

Splicing his own, not to well crafted, life discoveries such as - ride it till the wheels fall off, throughout what is suppose to be a stand up act skewers this project through the heart. As happy as I am that Martin has come through his little trial of life for the better, an once of celebrity a motivational speaker does not one make.

As always we see his influences, blatantly. Martin succeeds in completely ripping off about 30 minutes of Eddie Murphy's material. And to top all this theft off ruins Dana Carvy's 'old men are like newborns' bit. Martin is immensely talented, and unique in his own way. I always thought his brand of humour was better told through a sketckcom show. His impressions and distinctive characters always amused me. Perhaps this mistake will help drive him to where I see him working best. I guess I could hope.

I have walked away from Martin, I hope some redemption can come in BB2. Please Martin, don't fuck that one up as well.

Jason

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