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| (L-R) Berlant, Early, Lapkus, Zebrowski, Robinson, Rothwell, Brown, Downs |
I recently (OK, last night) finished watching all eight episodes of the new Netflix series "The Characters". Going into it I was nervous- the trailer I had watched weeks earlier seemed truly terrible. However, the experience turned out to be more of a mixed bag than just a outright disappointment, with a few of the comedians featured really blowing me away.
Let's start with the good. Out of the eight comedians who were each given a thirty minute show to do . . . pretty much whatever they wanted with, three really stood out to me. They are the works of Natasha Rothwell, Paul W. Downs, and John Early.
Rothwell's episode is the strongest, with a clear overarching narrative (jury duty!) that still leaves room for fully realized character bits that are well written, funny, and often packing a message. Each episode of this series begins with a tracking shot into the dressing room of the featured comedian and Rothwell sets her tone quickly with a room full of flowers, talking, and texting. Her humor is positive and goofy, with just the right amount of bite, and the closing rap number, wherein she proudly proclaims herself a basic bitch, is made even better with strong cameos by Chris Gethard and Cecily Strong. Also, I barely survived her outdoor sketch with Tyson Beckford- they are both so gorgeous in that scene they are almost hard to look at, and her dorky pizza related flirting is so damned endearing and body positive that it made me feel good about the world in general. Though I hadn't heard of her before this I am now a bonafide fan of her comic sensibilities.
I found the Paul W. Downs ("Trey" on Broad City) to be the next strongest episode. His quirky thirty minutes combines scenes from an intimate and absurd one man show filmed in front of a real audience with tight, well edited skits and scenes. Though I found his humor to feel very impersonal- I still have no idea who this guy really is- his weirdness and strength of ideas made up for that lack of personal connection. Also, this episode has my favorite cameo that teams him up with Broad City's Abbi Jacobson for a surreal restaurant sketch that starts with Jacobson as a wife asking her husband to role play as black people and ends with him as the husband awkwardly sending his food back after finding a severed penis in it. It's weird humor, it's surreal humor, but it manages to be dark without being grim. (Also, he has the best opener and closer out of everyone).
An earlier (ha) episode than the other two mentioned, John Early has some of the strongest characterizations in his episode. His characters (though very, very silly) felt like some of the most grounded- more like real people cranked up to eleven than just wacky cartoon sketches of humanity. Though his episode showcases many different types of people there is a definite tone, or vibe, to the thirty minutes that made it feel unique. Early's episode ends with a drag/theater style lip synced song number, with some truly fantastic facial expressions coming from Early. Overall I found his episode charming, with an intimate and mellow vibe that I really dug.
Now we get to the less successful outings. Kate Berlant and Tim Robinson fell right into the middle for me. Berlant had a strong narrative with some funny ideas but it never felt like she pushed the premise enough- I thought her characterizations were weak (especially vocally) but most of all I just didn't find it very funny (though I want to wear every outfit her kooky artist character wore). Robinson's episode, the shortest at 27 minutes, felt pretty scattershot. He seemed to be throwing ideas at the wall to see what stuck and nothing really resonated with me (the gun shop sketch especially rubbed me the wrong way).
But those were just the middle of the road episodes. Only two were really "bad"- and it pains me to name one of them- Lauren Lapkus.
I really enjoy Lauren Lapkus. I think she has an interesting energy about her and I have listened to many, many Comedy Bang Bang podcast episodes with her as a guest. But I also realized a while back that she definitely has a schtick and it's one that I can only stomach for so long. Her characters tend to be vulgar, hyper-sexualized children or other types associated with innocence (such as her CBB character "Hoho the Elf"). It's understandable why she makes these choice- she's a petite, high voiced woman with gigantic eyes who looks like one of her parents might have been an anime character. So, while it's understandable why she wants to riff off of her innocent appearance, it can get exhausting, much like her entire episode here. It's shrill and manic and full of characters she has played again and again. Hers was the least fresh feeling, both in terms of her recycling characters and in her topics chosen. The dating show premise just feels done to death already and since it was a recurring sketch much of what did make it kind of funny (her celebrity bachelorette character's awful makeup, how all but one of the suitors are named Ben) kept being repeated to diminishing results. Her ideas seem very one note- for instance, the only bit that made me laugh out loud was the sad stripper performing to the Ben Folds Five song "Brick". It's a very funny premise but she doesn't build on it or add anything to it- it's merely a visual one liner. Because of those problems I feel like it's a shame that hers is the first episode as it might be a turnoff for those looking for an entry into this series.
The other comedian I struggled with was Henry Zebrowski. Let's just say it: he appears in brown face. Add as many layers of hipster irony as you want, it is what it is and no other comedian chose that route. Because of this (and other factors) he definitely seems to fill the "bro" comedian slot with his episode. In many ways his comedy is the opposite of Paul W. Downs- Zebrowski's half hour is very personal, to the point of navel gazing. And though he is playing a (hopefully) caricatured version of himself it still feels indulgent and, most of all, not very funny. Like Lapkus, he goes too quickly to the easy and broad sexual humor and it comes off as a "try-hardy" to me. Overall he just did not mesh with the other comedians who seemed to have stronger ideas behind their humor and messages within their madness.
And finally, I come to the last comedian on the episode list: Dr. Brown. Let me just be clear: I did not find his episode very funny. But. The ambitious "filmed in one continuous shot" episode is captivating in its own way. The humor is low key and often absurdist and his "characters" are not as important as the mood and movement he's created here are. I got a distinct Zach Galifianakis vibe from his episode (a comparison I'm sure he has heard before, maybe based on looks alone)- gentle weirdness with just a bit of sass. But mostly what his episode left me with were - gasp! - emotions. His was the only episode that showed me a world I actually might want to live in, a world where everywhere you want to go is just across the street; a world where everyone says yes and every intention is good. A world where if you freak out, people are there to pick you up and carry you to safety. The final scene of the other actors in his episode coming back into frame to carry him away as they sing to him a cappella is, dare I say, kind of powerful what with the combined sounds and images. As pretentious as this is, Dr. Brown is the only one who seemed to want to make art rather than comedy and it really worked for me.
So there you have it. Netflix Presents: "The Characters". It's an interesting ride, definitely worth checking out. Overall, the mixed results were worth taking a chance on this premise. When an episode worked it wasn't just funny, it also really made me want to seek out more work associated with the comedian behind the funny. I support giving comedians the platform and budget needed to get their work out there, and would encourage Netflix in the future to make the next batch even more diverse. This is a good format and an interesting experiment and I'll be looking forward to future installments.