Master of None and Organic Dramedy

    Last year Aziz Ansari stepped out of stand up comedy and became a showrunner. He released the first season of his Netflix show Master of None which focus on a fictionalized version of Aziz's life. Aziz plays Dev, an actor who predominately does commercial, who deals with a slew of social issues.   

The show features a diverse cast. Main characters include a black lesbian and an asian best friend. The only established name, besides Ansari, is Eric Wareheim. Eric, of Tim and Eric, brings an oddity to the show that mostly sits in reality. The romantic lead, Rachel, is played by Noel Wells, who was on SNL for a season.

The show is structured interestingly. Each episode stands on it's own for the most part and each deals with a social issues. Episode titles range from "Grandparents" to "Plan B". Dev talks about the first Indian person he saw on tv was actually a white actor in brown face. There are two plot lines that weave throughout the series: Dev has a small role in a major action film called The Sickening and Dev and Rachel's relationship.
Dev and Rachel's relationship is a microcosm of what the show makes the show so good. Dev and Rachel meet and hook up and after a condom malfunction they go to the pharmacy and get plan b. They meet a few months later at a party but Rachel has a boyfriend. This sort of complicated relationship beginnings are common today. It is these awkward realities that create comedy. It is also these realities that create drama. Dev and Rachel take a date to Nashville which showcases the couples' ability to work together and Dev's flaws. There is an episode the exists entirely in Dev's apartment that spans the stretch of time from when Rachel moves in until when she decides to move out. 

     Master of None takes issues of social justice such as minority and female representation and shows them in as a realistic light as its relationships. It's this reality that makes Master of None so funny and so sad. I think this blend of comedy, drama, and social awareness makes for something very powerful in just how real it can be. It's my favorite show on Netflix and a very promising start for a young showrunner/stand up comedian.

The Eric André Show and Public Access TV

This week, after it being recommended by a friend, I watched The Eric André Show for the first time. This friend had no idea of my plans to produce a public access cooking show, nor did I have a clue that The Eric André Show was a sketch-riddled comedy program parodying public access talk shows. Though when it comes to this style I prefer the tastes of Tim and Eric, I found The Eric André Show funny. I especially liked how genuinely uncomfortable the guests felt during their interviews, which seems to have been part genuine, part editing magic.

Tonight I visited Pegasys, the public access studio mecca in Fall Creek in which we plan on shooting/editing together Baking and Entering. They have one studio that is as wonderfully archaic (i.e. analog-based) as we had hoped. There are generic set pieces, curtains (one chroma), a big chunky TV monitor, plenty of lights, and a tall ladder to shoot from. We set up two cameras, plugged in a mic, and fooled around in the control room. I had fun adapting to this much-older version of boards I learned to operate two years ago.

I can see why Eric André wanted to use analog cameras and film in the style of public access television; there's something thrilling about being "limited" in that sense. It's also fun to borrow/imitate a style that is frequently jabbed at feeling uncreative or boring. I'm excited to make the most of public access television this semester.

Why I Also Wish DeeVee Was My Son

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is probably the most inexplicable guilty pleasure of mine. It is the weirdest, weirdest, weirdest (there are literally no more adjectives at my disposal to describe it) show that I have ever seen. Its bizarre (hey! here's another adjective) parodies of public access television have garnered it an immense cult following.

Allow me to break down exactly why I have been singing "A Song for Dee Vee" everywhere I go, and what exactly makes their Chrimbus Special so special:

1. 0:05 - Right off the bat, the first funny thing is that they are singing a song for someone named "Dee Vee", and that someone happens to be a bizarre yeti-baby monster. Also: hilarious costumes. In context of the whole Chrimbus Special, they are celebrating a fictional holiday called "Chrimbus". One celebrates this holiday by keeping their "Chrimbus Bush" "trimmed and wet".
2. 0:10 - The song is about them wishing "Dee Vee" was their son. That in itself, is a joke, but Tim and Eric are above just making a joke. That's too obvious: they need to also make a hilarious face while singing. 
3. 0:13 - They dissolve to a shot of Dee Vee (a DVD monster), standing nobly as he is serenaded. Throughout this sketch (and all of their shows), they so perfectly parody the stupid, archaic whiz-bang tricks done while covering an in-studio performance. Dissolve to Camera 3, the shot of the strange munchkin ape-demon Dee Vee.
4. 0:16 - Tim has an incredible singing voice, and also makes a funny face. Funny faces = comedy. Write that down.
5. 0:20 - "You hairy boy, you need a trim. I'll get you wet for Chrimbus swim." I think at this point, it really sinks in that what you are viewing is absolutely absurd. Also, their harmonies are just as tight as their Chrimbus jumpsuits.
6. 0:32 - Tim sings "Oh, Dee Vee! I love you more than him." This in itself is a joke, but again, Tim and Eric are better than that. The real reason this is hilarious, Mom, is that Tim makes a gesture during the line. Realize how perfect that gesture is, and how completely it parodies beautiful time-honored singing events.
7. 0:40 -- the end - Watch this video. I cannot stop singing this song. I think any television student or hardcore enthusiast could at least see the value of how well the parody the stupidity of television events, programming, and commercials. If you do not fall into those categories, watch it anyways. Tim and Eric are the kings of surreal satirical humor (and anti-humor).

Tragedy In The Comedy

Over this past weekend I was lucky enough to be able to watch Tim Heidecker's new film, The Comedy. As a devoted fan of everything Tim Heidecker does I was incredibly excited to see this film, going so far as to attempt to bring this film to Cinemapolis for a screening. That attempt ended in failure after we were unable to get 70 people to reserve tickets online for said film. I scoured the internet for early reviews of this film and when I saw that it was the film with "the most walk-outs ever" at Sundance I knew that this was the movie I was waiting for. The trailer The Comedy: Trailer let me know that this film was not going to attempt to dumb down its message to appeal to a wider audience, this film is for people who understand the character that is Tim Heidecker, a man who is always "on". The protagonist of this movie, Swanson, is one of the most unlikable and morally repulsive characters I have ever seen. He is the bottom of the barrel of humanity. He embodies "Brooklyn Hipsters", this is not an easy film to watch. You will feel unclean at moments, you will cringe and be physically repulsed. The beauty in that is; every emotion you feel, every single cringe, gasp and revulsion is done on purpose. Director Rick Alverson has crafted a world that you know exists, but that world is one that you never want to be a part of.


Story Behind the Scene


Critical reviews have made it a point to say that this film goes nowhere, those critics are missing the entire point of the film. This is a generational statement disguised as a character study. In following Swanson around in his miserable world we are let in on a cultural movement; apathy. Out of touch white men who never had to work for themselves, never had to strain to achieve something, never had to try, have blossomed into a demographic.

My favorite scene in the film is the final one. Swanson is playing in the waves and sand with a young boy on the beach. The closing shot embodies the problem with all those aging white hipsters, they are children who never had to grow up, and probably never will.

This is a film that deserves to be watched several times, and I am going to do just that.