Films, TV, and Theatre

Mondo Beyondo (1988)

In this spoof of a television talk show, Midler portrays the Italian bombshell hostess, Mondo Beyondo. Her guests include monologuist David Cale; Bill Irwin, mime, comedian and clown; and the bizarre Kipper Kids.

Stars: Bette Midler, The Kipper Brothers, Bill Irwin, David Cale, David Gale, Stomp and more

Director: Thomas Schlamme

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JEFF JARVIS, People Magazine

HBO (Sat., March 19, 10 p.m. ET)

In a few short minutes Mondo Beyondo features mime, break dancing and rap music. If only they also had an openmouthed gum chewer, then this one show would have combined every one of my four greatest dislikes in the world. But Mondo comes close. Instead of an audible gum cracker, it has the next worst thing: a monologuist. What torture. The usually wonderful Bette Midler plays hostess to what is meant to be a parody of cable TV -- on cable TV -- with segments that are supposed to be cutesy, artsy and cool. In one, an infantile fool in the middle of a garbage dump pretends that plastic champagne glasses can sing. In another, two nearly naked men (one played by Midler's husband, Martin von Haselberg) wearing rubber tires dump cold SpaghettiOs on each other in a men's room. And I thought that the most senseless exercise on cable TV was still home shopping. Wrong again. Grade: D

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E-OnLine

In this spoof of a television talk show, Midler portrays the Italian bombshell hostess, Mondo Beyondo. Her guests include monologuist David Cale; Bill Irwin, mime, comedian and clown; and the bizarre Kipper Kids.

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DVDLaser.com, David Pratt

The hour-long comedy special, featuring avant-garde comedy performers, is introduced by Midler, sporting a vaudevillian Italian accent and a constantly oscillating décolletage. Her routine seems markedly contrasted to the more imaginative efforts of the other performers. They are even funny, now and then. Featured among the skits are Bill Irwin deliberately out of synch with a pair of break dancers; Paul Zaloom performing a multicharacter skit in a garbage dump for seagulls; the Kipper Kids participating in a fairly gross food fight; a lovely ballet on the floor of an empty swimming pool; a nice monolog by David Cale about flying to America; a fabulous percussion piece by Luke Cresswell and Paul McNicholas using the urban environment as an instrument; and more. The stereo sound is fine, and the picture, primarily from a video tape source, is bright and spotless.