From 2000 to 2002, Christopher Titus had a brief cup of coffee at the network level as the producer-star of his own eponymous sitcom, based on his dysfunctional adolescence. But Titus the show didn’t fully showcase the comedian’s fierce, if demon-derived talents. Instead, that’s best left to his all-new Comedy Central stand-up special, Love is Evol, new to DVD this week.

A tour de force on all things love, Love is Evol is a hilarious and unflinching look at dating, romance, marriage and especially heartache and divorce — the “psychological barbed wire” of relationships. Building on the same sort of very personal material explored in 2004’s Norman Rockwell is Bleeding and 2007’s The 5th Annual End of the World Tour specials, Titus plumbs dark places for some genuine, slack-jawed laughs, without the gimmickry of empty shock through manufactured coarseness. There’s a lot of material about his parents — his father was an emotionally abusive heavy drinker, his mother a manic-depressive schizophrenic alcoholic who eventually killed her second husband, but also showed up at her son’s high school graduation in “white, thigh-high go-go boots and an Army jacket, looking like the commander of a stripper battalion.” Titus confesses that this tumultuous upbringing has resulted in a permanent mocking inner monologue, a feeling of always being one step away from screwing things up.

He doesn’t shy away from also turning the fire on his ex-wife, though. While Titus assays the process of divorce harshly (“I’d rather be majority stockholder in a chain of Alec Baldwin daycares with Britney Spears as the CEO”), he argues that the June 6, 2006 filing date of the end of his marriage was an ironic gift from God. If your loved one comes from a screwed up family background but you think they got out sane, think again, Titus advises — they’re more likely just “a psycho Tylenol gelcap.” Jealousy seems to have been a big issue in Titus’ marriage — he claims he was accused of sleeping with people he hadn’t even met — so that issue gets plenty of workout. In broader, slightly less personal, or at least less psychologically penetrating, areas of focus Titus also advises against Capri pants for ladies, and says that women can believe a man really loves them if he goes to the mall with them. “At the mall,” Titus says, “men are always thinking, ‘I wish I was doing something productive — like cleaning out the gutter, coming up with life goals or inventing a car that runs on shattered dreams and lost faith in myself.'”

While the hard-hitting personal material may on the surface seem an odd match with some of the more generally observant comedy that rounds out the last leg of the show, Titus finds smart ways to interweave the two. It helps, too, that he’s not afraid to tag the harshest of his jokes with small, puncturing laughs of self-evisceration, making his own foibles and perceived inadequacies always part of the punchline. It’s this tack — the never vain, shrewdly perceptive ability to mine truth from personal angst — that helps elevate Titus’ material from merely funny to both amusing and painfully insightful, in its best passages.

Housed in a regular Amaray case, Christopher Titus: Love is Evol comes to DVD on a single disc, presented in full screen. Bonus materials include over 40 minutes of material not aired from the show’s Valentine’s Day premiere on Comedy Central, as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette on the photo shoot for the special, man-on-the-street interviews with fans and “Countdown to V-Day,” a segment in which Titus gives love advice. To purchase the DVD via Comedy Central, click here; to purchase it via Amazon, meanwhile, click here. A- (Concert) B (Disc)

Plying their trade with deep-cut albums that allowed for maximum mood-noodling, Vanilla Fudge first came to prominence in 1967, and recorded a number of albums over a course of three years. Originally formed by Carmine Appice, keyboardist Mark Stein and bassist
Tim Bogert, the group added guitarist Vince Martell and enjoyed success in the American singles chart with a slowed-down arrangement of the Supremes hit “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” before finally parting ways in 1970. Now they’re back, on a concert DVD from five years ago.

Recorded in 2004, Vanilla Fudge: When Two Worlds Collide features core members Bogert and Appice alongside newer members Teddy Rondinelli, on guitar, and Bill Pascali, on keyboards. In this performance, the band run through key Vanilla Fudge songs including “Take Me For a Little While,” “Season of the Witch,” “She’s Not There” and, of course, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” An orchestral opening gives way to “Good Livin’,” and other tunes here include “Ain’t That Peculiar,” “People Get Ready,” “Shotgun,” “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” “Need Love” and “You Can’t Do That.” There’s also a cover of the Rod Stewart Hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” which seems like a weird cheat until you realize that Appice wrote while a member of Rod Stewart’s band during the ’70s.

In truth, though, this isn’t the greatest showcase for the group. The direction is overly processed, powered by too many cuts, and this undercuts the otherwise solid amount of close-ups that comprise the show. Apart from these misguided editorial choices, it’s also just a weird presentation of the music, to be honest. Pascali sports three stick-on diamonds on his face, under his mouth, and there’s faaaaar too much jam-band instrumental noodling for these tunes to take hold, even if it is mixed with some admittedly nice contributions from a sit-in orchestra.

Housed in a clear plastic Amaray case, Vanilla Fudge: When Two Worlds Collide comes presented on a region-free disc in 1.33:1 fullscreen, with an entirely adequate Dolby digital audio track. A too-long, literal-minded (look… it’s two planets… and they’re colliding!) animated set-up that can’t be force-stopped gives way to the main menu screen, where viewers can play the concert in its entirety or jump to specific tracks. Other bonus materials consists of an optional commentary track on the main concert, a nine-minute photo gallery with commentary from Appice and Bogert — probably the highlight of the disc, given some of their wry reminiscences — and a five-minute mini-documentary on the group comprised of interviews with all the players. Oh, there’s also five minutes of festival footage of the band performing the Back Street Boys song “I Want It That Way.” Yes, seriously. To purchase the disc via Amazon, click here. D (Concert) B (Disc)