Comedians deliver laughs on DVD

Here are some of the latest DVDs in release, led by a pair of stand-up comics performing before live audiences.

"Robert Cait: Kosher Not Kosher" (VSC, 2009, $19.98). Cait is a comedian who plays off being Jewish for most of his act, in much the same way that George Lopez uses his Mexican background. Only Cait does it without the F-words.

This disc has two stand-up sets, demonstrating how Cait performs in front of a general audience (in a 37-minute set at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles) and before a specifically Jewish audience (in an hourlong set, as he wears a yarmulke and occasionally speaks Yiddish, with English subtitles helping out).

Some of his material is quite funny, and a few jokes are repeated for both sets — but to my surprise his general-audience gags lean quite heavily on sexual material, which he excludes from the strictly Jewish set.

Sex jokes in general are cheap and easy, and too many comedians use them as a crutch. As a result, Cait is much more creative in the cleaned-up performance. (Favorite gag: There's a Kosher McDonald's in Israel. "They don't have a Happy Meal; they have a, Ehh, Could Be Happier Meal.")

Extras: widescreen, two stand-up performances

"Jim Gaffigan: King Baby" (Comedy Central/Paramount, 2008, $16.99). Filmed during the last stop in Gaffigan's 2008 tour, in Austin, Texas, this cable-TV special is a tad "edgier" (as his high-pitched inner voice would say) than his previous DVD, with a few off-color jokes about circumcision and some off-putting gags about religion. And some of the bonus features are surprisingly raunchy. (There's a parental advisory on the box.)

Most of the way, however, Gaffigan's set is quite funny as he talks about junk food, bowling, escalators — and especially in a hilarious extended monologue about bacon. There's also an odd Mormon joke in the first five minutes. (Favorite gag: His wife tells him camping is a tradition in her family. "Hey, it was a tradition in everyone's family 'till we came up with the house.")

Extras: widescreen, comic featurettes, animated shorts

"The Real Ghostbusters: Volume 1" (Sony/Time Life, 1986-87, five discs, $39.95). Enjoyable TV-animation adaptation of the hit 1984 movie "Ghostbusters," with different actors (including Arsenio Hall) doing the voices of the four ghost catchers and their secretary, along with a mascot, the green Slimer. A nice box set for fans of the show.